A  BRIEF  NARRATIVE  OF  THE 

Fourth  Tennessee 
Cavalry  Regiment 

WHEELER'S  CORPS,  ARMY 
OF  TENNESSEE 


By  GEORGE  B.  GUILD 


NASHVILLE,  TENN. 
1913 


(o 

t-ft 

Gfc 


To   those  comrades   "who  went  with   us  but  came 
not  back  again"  many  of  whom  are  sleep 
ing  in  their  blankets  in  unknown 
graves  on  the  battlefields 
where  they  fell 


The  rough  board  that  perhaps  a  comrade  placed  at  the  head  to 
direct  the  footsteps  of  inquiring  friends  has  long  since  rotted  down; 
and  the  little  mound  they  spread  above  their  soldier  breast  has 
been  leveled  by  the  plowshare  or  the  long  years  that  have  passed 
since  then.  But  there  the  wild  flower  sheds  its  sweetest  perfume 
to  the  morning  air,  and  the  song  bird  warbles  its  lay  to  the  setting 
sun,  and  at  night  the  stars  of  heaven,  as  they  climb  the  Milky  Way, 
look  down  and  grow  brighter  as  they  pass. 


M229939 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY    7 

I.  ORGANIZATION  AND  EARLY  MOVEMENTS 9 

Outpost  Duty  at  Franklin,  Tenn.— Battle  of 
Murfreesboro — Retreat  to  Shelbyville. 

II.  FROM  FORT  DONELSON  TO  CHICKAMAUGA 16 

Fort  Donelson — Woodbury,  Tenn. — Trousdale's 
Ferry  on  Caney  Fork  River— Resisting  Rosecrans's 
Advance  on  Shelbyville  and  Tullahoma — Bragg's 
Retreat  to  Chattanooga  —  Wheelers  Cavalry  at 
Rome,  Ga. — Battle  of  Chickamauga. 

III.  WHEELER'S  RAID  INTO  MIDDLE  TENNESSEE  IN  1863. .     35 

IV.  IN  EAST  TENNESSEE 49 

Return  to  the  Army  of  Tennessee  at  Missionary 
Ridge — Report  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Anderson  on 
the  Battle  of  Chickamauga — Battles  of  Lookout 
Mountain  and  Orchard  Knob — Missionary  Ridge 
and  Ringgold,  Ga. 

V.  CAMPAIGNING  IN  GEORGIA 57 

Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston  Succeeds  General  Bragg 
as  Commander  in  Chief — Remarks  about  General 
Bragg — General  Sherman  Advances  on  Dalton,  Ga. 
— March  to  Atlanta,  Ga. — Battles  of  Resaca  and 
Kingston — New  Hope  Church — Kenne.saw  Moun 
tain — Marietta  and  Atlanta — General  Johnston  Su 
perseded  by  General  Hood. 
VI.  GENERAL  WHEELER'S  CAPTURE  OF  THE  COMMANDS 

OF  GENERALS  McCooK  AND  STONEMAN 69 

Raid  of  General  Wheeler  into  Tennessee  in  1864 
— Behind  the  Lines. 

VII.  IN  TENNESSEE,  VIRGINIA,  AND  HARASSING  SHER 
MAN   97 

March  through  East  Tennessee — Battle  of  Salt- 
ville,  Va. — Return  to  Atlanta,  Ga. — Sherman's 
March  to  the  Sea. 


6  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

PAGE 

VIII.  THE  SOUTH  CAROLINA  CAMPAIGN 112 

Remarks  about  General  Hood — Battle  of  Aiken, 
S.  C— Battle  of  Fayetteville,  N.  C. 

IX.  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA 125 

Change    in    Brigade    Officers — Gen.    Joseph    E. 

Johnston   Succeeds    General   Hood   and   Assumes 

Command  in  North  Carolina — Battle  of  Averyboro, 

N.  C— Bentonville,  N.  C. 

X.  FURTHER  MOVEMENTS  IN   NORTH   CAROLINA,  AND 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END 136 

Reorganization  of  the  Army  at  Smithfield,  N.  C. 
— General  Johnston  Ordered  to  Greensboro,  N.  C. 
—  Meets  Confederate  States  Officials  —  General 
Johnston  Confers  with  General  Sherman,  and  an 
Agreement  Made  to  End  the  War. 

XL  THE  END  OF  THE  STRUGGLE 143 

Surprise  of  the  Army  at  Information  of  Surren 
der — Sherman-Johnston  Capitulation  Rejected  at 
Washington — Another  Agreement  Looking  to  a 
Surrender  on  Terms  Given  General  Lee  at  Appo- 
mattox — General  Johnston's  Farewell  Address  to 
the  Army — General  Wheeler's  Address  to  the  Cav 
alry. 

XII.  CASUALTY  LISTS 153 

XIII.  GEN.  JOSEPH  E.  JOHNSTON  AND  OTHER  OFFICERS..  172 

XIV.  AN  ADDRESS  AND  A  SPEECH 185 

XV.  A  FEW  FACTS  FROM  HISTORY 195 

XVI.  AFTER  THE  WAR 206 

XVII.  GENERAL  BRAGG'S  KENTUCKY  CAMPAIGN  IN   1862 

(By  Baxter  Smith) 211 

XVIII.  MEMBERS  OF  THE  REGIMENT  Now  LIVING 239 

APPENDIX    257 

INDEX  .  262 


INTRODUCTORY. 


SINCE  the  surrender  of  the  Confederate  army,  in 
the  spring  of  1865,  I  have  been  frequently  asked  by 
members  of  the  Regiment  to  write  its  history.  I 
have  always  promised,  but  have  failed  to  comply  till 
now  I  find  myself  attempting  it  forty-seven  years 
afterwards.  Many  of  those  who  survived  the  sur 
render  have  died.  Some  have  removed  to  parts 
unknown,  and  a  very  few  remain  from  whom  I  can 
obtain  necessary  information.  So  I  am  forced  to 
write  mostly  from  a  personal  recollection,  without 
memorandum  or  note.  This  I  regret;  for  it  forces 
me  to  speak  of  some,  while  I  have  forgotten  others 
equally  as  worthy  of  mention.  I  offer  this  as  my 
apology  for  an  imperfect  record. 

It  has  been  my  effort  to  write  a  narrative  of  my 
own  Regiment.  Necessarily  it  can  be  of  but  little 
interest  to  the  public,  although  it  embraces  a  cursory 
history  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee,  of  which  it  was 
a  part.  I  see  that  some  repetition  appears  in  its 
pages,  growing  out  of  a  predisposition  to  emphasize 
some  facts,  which  I  ask  you  to  excuse. 


CHAPTER  I. 
ORGANIZATION  AND  EARLY  MOVEMENTS. 

THE  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  did  not  assume 
regimental  form  until  General  Bragg  had  returned 
from  his  Kentucky  campaign,  in  the  fall  of  1862. 
It  was  made  up  of  detachments  that  had  served  un 
der  different  commanders  since  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  At  its  organization  Baxter  Smith  was  made 
Colonel ;  Paul  F.  Anderson,  Lieutenant  Colonel ;  W. 
Scott  Bledsoe,  Major;  J.  A.  Minnis,  Adjutant;  W. 
A.  Rushing,  Sergeant  Major;  Marcellus  Grissim, 
Quartermaster,  with  R.  O.  McLean,  Bob  Corder, 
and  John  Price  his  assistants;  Captain  Bone,  Com 
missary,  with  Lieut.  J.  A.  Arnold  and  Captain  Mc 
Lean  his  assistants;  Dr.  W.  T.  Delaney,  Surgeon, 
with  Dr.  Tom  Allen  his  assistant;  Rev.  W.  W. 
Hendrix,  Chaplain;  Sergeant  Finney,  Ordnance 
Officer;  J.  A.  Stewart  and  James  B.  Nance,  Regi 
mental  Buglers;  Bob  Gann  and  Bennett  Chapman, 
Wagon  Masters. 

The  commissioned  officers  of  the  companies  were : 

Company  A. — Captain,  D.  W.  Alexander;  First  Lieutenant, 
Rice  McLean;  Second  Lieutenant,  J.  N.  Orr;  Third  Lieuten 
ant,  Charles  Beard.  Recruited  in  Marshall  County,  Tenn. 

Company  B. — Captain,  C.  H.  Ingles ;  First  Lieutenant,  Joe 
Massengale ;  Second  Lieutenant,  Joe  Massengale ;  Third  Lieu 
tenant,  G.  W.  Carmack.  Recruited  in  Sullivan  County,  Tenn. 


io         ^fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Company  C. — Captains,  Frank  Cunningham*  and  George  C. 
Moore ;  First  Lieutenant,  James  Hogan ;  Second  Lieutenant,  R. 
S.  Scruggs ;  Third  Lieutenant,  Samuel  Scoggins.  Recruited  in 
Smith  County,  Tenn. 

Company  D. — Captain,  J.  M.  Phillips;  First  Lieutenant, 
Bob  Bone ;  Second  Lieutenant,  J.  T.  Barbee ;  Third  Lieutenant, 
J.  A.  Arnold.  Recruited  in  DeKalb  and  Wilson  Counties, 
Tenn. 

Company  E. — Captain,  H.  A.  Wyly;  First  Lieutenant,  H.  L. 
Preston ;  Second  Lieutenant,  W.  S.  Sullivan ;  Third  Lieuten 
ant,  John  Fathera.  Recruited  in  Cannon  County,  Tenn. 

Company  F. — Captain,  J.  R.  Lester;  First  Lieutenant,  C.  S. 
Burgess ;  Second  Lieutenant,  W.  H.  Phillips ;  Third  Lieutenant, 
James  Williamson.  Recruited  in  Wilson  County,  Tenn. 

Company  G. — Captain,  J.  W.  Nichol;  First  Lieutenant, 
Dave  Youree;  Second  Lieutenant,  —  McKnight;  Third  Lieu 
tenant,  J.  A.  Sagely.  Recruited  in  Cannon  and  Rutherford 
Counties,  Tenn. 

Company  H. — Captain,  Sam  Glover;  Lieutenants,  Green, 
Light,  William  Gaut,  and  William  Fields.  Recruited  in  Ham 
ilton  County  and  Bridgeport,  Ala. 

Company  I. — Captain,  Bob  Bledsoe;  Lieutenants,  William 
Hildreth,  J.  W.  Storey,  Foster  Bowman,  and  Elliott.  Re 
cruited  in  Fentress  County,  Tenn. 

Company  K. — Captain,  Jim  Britton;  Lieutenants,  W.  Cor- 
bett  and  Dewitt  Anderson.  Recruited  in  Wilson,  Sumner,  and 
Davidson  Counties,  Tenn. 

Company  L.t— Captain,  J.  J.  Parton;  Lieutenants,  Henry, 
Russell,  and  Tillery.  Recruited  in  Knox  County,  Tenn. 

*Resigned  soon  after  organization  of  Regiment,  and  Lieut. 
George  C.  Moore  succeeded  him,  serving  till  the  surrender. 

fThis  Company  was  not  attached  to  the  Regiment  till  just 
before  the  battle  of  Chickamauga.  It  had  been  the  escort  of 
General  McGowan,  who  resigned,  and  it  reported  to  the  Fourth 
Tennessee,  serving  till  the  surrender.  It  was  a  very  small 
company. 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         n 

The  Regiment  was  assigned  to  a  brigade  composed 
of  the  Eighth  Texas,  Eleventh  Texas,  First  Ken 
tucky,  and  Fourth  Tennessee  Regiments  and  Ma- 
1  one's  Alabama  Battalion,  Col.  Tom  Harrison  as 
Senior  Colonel  commanding  the  brigade,  Maj.  Gen. 
John  A.  Wharton  commanding  the  division  (Gen. 
Joe  Wheeler's  Corps,  Army  of  Tennessee),  and  sent 
to  Franklin,  Tenn.,  on  outpost  duty.  General  Bragg, 
with  the  infantry  force,  was  at  Murfreesboro,  con 
fronting  General  Rosecrans's  Federal  army  at  Nash 
ville. 

It  is  well  enough  to  state  here  that  there  were 
two  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiments  in  the 
army — Colonel  Stearns' s  Fourth  Tennessee  and 
Colonel  Smith's  Fourth  Tennessee.  They  had  been 
serving  in  different  departments  of  the  army,  one 
under  General  Forrest  and  the  other  under  General 
Wheeler,  most  of  the  time,  and  we  did  not  know  the 
fact  until  late  in  the  war.  Both  had  made  charac 
ter  under  that  name,  and  each  tacitly  agreed  to  re 
main  as  they  had  been  known,  which  they  did.  At 
the  date  of  the  organization  of  the  Fourth  Tennessee 
Cavalry  Regiment  it  numbered  one  thousand  men, 
rank  and  file,  made  up  principally  of  stout,  healthy, 
and  vigorous  young  men.  As  stated,  our  first  serv 
ice  as  a  regiment  was  at  Franklin,  on  General  Bragg's 
front  and  left  flank,  some  twenty  miles  from  Mur 
freesboro  and  eighteen  miles  from  Nashville,  where 
we  were  kept  busy  for  some  two  months  or  more 


12         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

in  picketing,  scouting  on  all  the  roads  leading  toward 
Murfreesboro  from  Nashville,  occasionally  having 
some  hot  contests  with  the  enemy,  killing,  wounding, 
and  capturing  some,  and  losing  some  ourselves. 
At  one  time  we  scouted  toward  Nashville  in  the 
night,  and  remained  all  day  in  the  vicinity,  expect 
ing  the  enemy  to  come  out,  as  was  their  custom, 
on  foraging  expeditions,  which  they  failed  to  do. 
But  before  leaving  we  concluded  to  give  them  a 
closer  dare.  In  the  evening  we  came  up  the  Char 
lotte  Pike  as  far  as  what  is  now  West  Nashville, 
and,  going  up  Richland  Creek,  we  came  in  contact 
with  a  force  of  the  enemy  at  Bosley  Springs,  and, 
charging  them,  drove  them  back  to  the  Harding 
Pike,  capturing  some  and  pursuing  the  others  to 
where  the  old  penitentiary  wall  stood,  on  Church 
Street.  We  remained  in  line  a  short  distance  down 
the  road  till  near  sundown ;  but  no  enemy  appearing, 
we  repaired  to  our  station  at  Franklin. 

The  enemy  made  frequent  scouts  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Franklin,  sometimes  resulting  in  quite  a 
battle.  I  remember  that  in  one  of  these  Captain 
McMillin,  a  brother  of  Ex-Governor  McMillin,  was 
killed.  He  was  on  a  visit  to  some  acquaintances  in 
the  Regiment,  and  went  out  with  the  Regiment  to 
meet  one  of  these  scouts  of  the  enemy. 

In  the  latter  part  of  December,  1862,  Rosecrans 
marched  on  Murfreesboro.  The  Regiment  skir 
mished  with  his  advance  till  he  reached  the  place. 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         13 

Capt.  J.  R.  Lester,  of  Company  F,  was  desperately 
wounded  in  one  of  these  skirmishes.  We  thought  at 
the  time  that  his  wound  was  mortal,  but  he  returned 
to  his  company  in  a  few  weeks,  and  served  with  them 
till  the  surrender  at  Greensboro,  N.  C.  When 
Colonel  Smith  as  Senior  Colonel  assumed  the  com 
mand  of  the  brigade,  Capt.  J.  R.  Lester  was  made 
his  Inspector  General,  and  surrendered  as  such. 

On  reaching  Murfreesboro  we  were  placed  on  the 
right  of  our  line  on  the  Lebanon  Pike,  where  Gen 
eral  Bragg  supposed  the  enemy  would  first  attack; 
but  changing  his  plans  during  the  night,  he  attacked 
with  his  left  flank  about  daylight.  A  terrific  battle 
ensued  here.  It  seems  the  enemy  at  the  time  was 
moving  to  attack  Bragg  from  that  flank,  and  the 
two  armies  unexpectedly  met  in  deadly  conflict.  The 
battle  raged  in  all  its  fury  for  hours.  Charge  after 
charge  and  countercharge  was  made  time  and  again, 
with  heavy  losses  on  both  sides.  The  Confederates, 
steadily  advancing,  gradually  forced  the  enemy  back, 
capturing  many  pieces  of  artillery  and  small  arms, 
with  many  prisoners.  Among  the  captured  was 
General  Willich  and  his  German  Brigade.  Gen.  Jim 
Rains,  of  the  Confederate  army,  and  General  Sill, 
of  the  Federal  army,  were  killed  in  one  of  these  as 
saults.  Before  night  the  Federal  army  was  forced 
back  to  the  Nashville  Pike,  at  right  angles  to  the 
position  they  held  when  first  attacked.  The  Con 
federates  had  gained  a  great  victory.  The  loss  of 


14         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

each  was  about  equal — say,  ten  thousand.  Six  thou 
sand  Federal  prisoners  were  captured,  and  several 
batteries  of  artillery,  besides  thousands  of  muskets 
and  ammunition.  The  next  morning  every  one  ex 
pected  the  battle  to  be  renewed,  and  were  much  dis 
appointed  that  General  Bragg  did  not  follow  up  his 
advantage,  instead  of  which  he  remained  inactive 
for  several  days.  In  the  meantime  he  ordered  Gen 
eral  Wheeler,  with  his  cavalry  corps,  to  the  rear  of 
General  Rosecrans,  toward  Nashville.  All  along  the 
way  to  La  Vergne  we  were  picking  up  prisoners, 
and  everything  indicated  a  defeat  and  rout  of  the 
enemy.  At  the  latter  place  we  came  up  with  a  long 
train  of  wagons  moving  toward  Nashville  with  an 
escort  o>f  several  thousand  cavalry.  We  engaged 
them,  and,  after  a  considerable  battle,  they  retreated. 
We  captured  and  destroyed  some  two  hundred  wag 
ons,  some  prisoners  were  taken,  and  a  good  many 
men  on  both  sides  were  killed  and  wounded.  Many 
of  Rosecrans' s  men  had  reached  Nashville,  report 
ing  that  his  army  had  been  badly  beaten.  Still  no 
movement  had  been  made  by  General  Bragg  at 
Murf  reesboro.  The  enemy  had  taken  advantage  of 
this  inactivity  by  collecting  together  their  broken 
columns  and  taking  position  on  high  ground  on  the 
banks  of  Stones  River,  and  crowned  it  with  a  num 
ber  of  batteries — fifty-seven  pieces — well  protected, 
awaiting  the  movement  of  General  Bragg.  On  the 
first  day  of  January  he  attacked  this  well-fortified 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.          15 

place  of  the  enemy  with  the  single  division  of  Gen 
eral  Breckenridge.  After  a  most  gallant  assault  by 
Breckenridge,  he  was  repulsed  with  heavy  loss. 
That  night  the  cavalry  of  Wheeler  occupied  the 
works  of  the  infantry  when  they  withdrew  toward 
Shelbyville.  General  Bragg,  it  seems,  had  sent  off 
during  this  lull  in  movements  all  of  his  wounded  and 
the  prisoners  he  had  taken.  At  daylight  on  the  2d 
of  January,  1863,  Wheeler's  cavalry  also  with 
drew,  following  the  infantry  toward  Shelbyville. 
No  pursuit  was  made.  The  Federals  were  as  much 
surprised  as  the  Confederates  at  the  result,  and  it 
was  sometime  during  the  day  before  they  could  real 
ize  the  fact  of  the  withdrawal  of  Bragg's  troops. 
Much  adverse  criticism  was  made  of  General 
Bragg's  failure  to  take  advantage  of  the  victory  he 
had  obtained  in  the  first  days  of  the  battle,  and  es 
pecially  of  the  assault  he  made  against  the  \vell- 
prepared  works  of  the  enemy,  when  it  should  have 
been  with  his  entire  army  instead  of  a  single  divi 
sion.  Such  was  the  opinion  of  the  humblest  soldier 
in  liis  army. 


CHAPTER  II. 
FROM  FORT  DONELSON  TO  CHICKAMAUGA. 

GENERAL  BRAGG  upon  reaching  Shelby ville  went 
regularly  into  camp,  and  remained  there  some  three 
or  four  months  drilling,  recruiting,  and  strengthen 
ing  his  army.  General  Wheeler,  with  his  corps,  was 
on  the  front  watching  the  movement  of  the  Federal 
army  at  Murfreesboro,  scouting  all  the  approaches, 
with  an  occasional  scrap  with  the  enemy,  sometimes 
approaching  the  dignity  of  a  battle. 

In  January,  1863,  Wheeler's  Corps  was  or 
dered  to  Fort  Donelson  with  a  view  of  capturing  the 
garrison  stationed  there.  General  Forrest  was  or 
dered  up  from  Wrest  Tennessee  to  cooperate  with 
WTheeler.  On  reaching  the  place,  Wheeler  made  his 
arrangements  to  attack,  and  did  attack  the  fortifi 
cations;  but  General  Forrest  refusing  to  cooperate, 
he  was  repulsed  and  the  expedition  was  a  failure. 
Wheeler  lost  quite  a  number  of  men.  Col.  Frank 
McNairy,  a  well-known  citizen  of  Nashville,  was 
killed  in  leading  a  charge.  The  weather  was  ex 
tremely  cold.  The  streams  were  full  of  ice  and  the 
clirt  roads  were  frozen  hard,  making  it  a  matter  of 
difficulty  to  pass  over.  Men  and  horses  suffered 
greatly,  as  much  as  at  any  time  during  the  war.  On 
going  back  to  Shelbyville,  the  Fourth  Tennessee  was 
detached  and  sent  by  General  Bragg  to  Woodbury 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         17 

to  relieve  a  portion  of  General  Morgan's  command 
under  Captain  Hutchison,  who  was  killed  in  an 
engagement  with  the  enemy  the  day  before  we 
reached  there.  He  was  a  fine  soldier,  and  his  death 
was  much  regretted.  His  home  was  at  Springfield, 
Tenn.,  where  he  is  affectionately  remembered.  The 
Regiment  was  at  Woodbury  some  weeks,  during 
which  time  we  had  frequent  battles  with  the  enemy 
coming  up  from  Murfreesboro,  where  the  Federal 
army  was  still  stationed.  We  lost  quite  a  number 
of  men,  killed  and  wounded.  In  one  of  these  en 
gagements  Colonel  Smith  received  a  saber  cut,  and 
would  probably  have  been  killed  had  not  the  bugler 
of  the  Regiment,  J.  A.  Stuart,  relieved  the  situation 
by  a  well-directed  shot  from  his  pistol.  From  Wood- 
bury  we  were  ordered  over  to  Trousdale's  Ferry, 
on  the  Caney  Fork  River.  We  went  from  there  on 
a  scout  toward  Nashville,  and,  turning  off  the  Leb 
anon  Pike,  went  to  a  point  on  the  Cumberland  River 
a  mile  above  Edgefield  Junction,  where  we  waited, 
in  ambush,  for  a  train  on  the  Louisville  and  Nash 
ville  Railroad  to  come  in  sight.  \Ve  had  a  piece  of 
artillery  with  us,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  White ; 
and  when  a  long  train  made  its  appearance,  he  opened 
on  it,  and  about  the  first  shot  went  into  the  steam 
chest  of  the  engine,  bringing  the  train  to  a  stop  in 
full  view  of  our  position.  The  train  was  loaded 
with  horses;  and  after  demolishing  it  and  every 
thing  in  sight,  we  retired. 
2 


1 8         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Some  of  the  men  asked  to  be  permitted  to  go  over 
and  get  some  of  the  horses ;  but  Colonel  Smith  would 
not  allow  it,  as  he  had  another  trip  in  contemplation, 
to  wit :  to  go  over  to  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga 
Railroad.  Near  Smyrna  we  captured  a  long  'train 
of  cars  full  of  officers  and  soldiers  without  firing  a 
gun.  The  men  were  allowed  to  help  themselves 
bountifully  to  the  rich  booty;  and  being  paroled,  the 
prisoners  were  permitted  to  pursue  their  journey 
toward  Nashville  on  foot.  From  there  we  returned 
to  our  post  at  Trousdale's  Ferry.  In  a  short  while 
thereafter  Colonel  Smith  and  Adjutant  Minnis  were 
captured  by  the  enemy  under  the  following  circum 
stances:  They  had  been  across  the  river  inspecting 
the  picket  posts  on  that  side,  and  on  their  return  to 
camp  after  dark  they  were  captured  by  a  scout  of 
the  enemy  which  had  been  piloted  around  the  pickets 
by  a  Union  man  of  that  vicinity.  As  soon  as  it  was 
ascertained,  a  squad  from  the  picket  post  pursued 
them  to  the  vicinity  of  Carthage,  about  seven  miles. 
They  came  in  view  of  the  scouts  with  the  prisoners, 
whom  they  managed  to  keep  so  exposed  that  the  Con 
federates  were  afraid  to  fire  at  them  for  fear  of  kill 
ing  Colonel  Smith  and  Minnis.  The  writer  was 
appointed  to  fill  the  place  of  Adjutant  Minnis,  and 
served  in  this  capacity  till  the  battle  of  Fayetteville, 
N.  C,  in  February,  1865,  when  he  was  appointed 
Adjutant  General  of  the  brigade,  and  served  and 
surrendered  as  such  at  Greensboro,  N.  C.,  April  26, 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         19 

1865.  We  remained  some  days  longer  on  the  Caney 
Fork,  till  General  Rosecrans  commenced  his  move 
ment  against  General  Bragg,  when  we  were  ordered 
to  Shelbyville.  We  reached  there  in  time  to  resist 
the  advance  of  the  enemy,  having  some  well-contested 
battles  with  them,  in  which  a  good  many  of  our  men 
were  killed  and  wounded,  and  inflicting  a  like  loss 
on  the  enemy.  Here  the  greater  part  of  Colonel 
Malone's  Battalion,  of  Alabama,  was  captured,  and 
we  saw  no  more  of  them  during  the  war. 

When  Rosecrans  began  his  movement  on  Shelby 
ville  with  a  heavy  column,  he  sent  a  like  column  down 
the  Chattanooga  Railway  toward  Tullahoma.  In 
order  to  meet  this  movement,  General  Bragg  fell  back 
to  Tullahoma,  where  the  two  columns  of  the  enemy 
were  expected  to  concentrate. 

The  Army  of  Tennessee  remained  at  Tullahoma 
some  three  or  four  weeks,  during  which  time  they 
were  kept  busy  drilling,  collecting  supplies,  recruit 
ing,  etc.  The  conscript  law  of  the  Confederate  gov 
ernment  was  in  full  force,  and  Bragg  received  from 
this  source  quite  an  accession  to  his  army.  Some 
of  these  made  as  good  soldiers  as  we  had,  but  as  a 
general  thing  they  were  a  very  uncertain  quantity 
and  would  not  do  to  depend  on.  In  a  short  time 
General  Rosecrans's  army  appeared  before  Tulla 
homa.  It  had  been  largely  recruited  and  numbered 
double  the  strength  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee.  In 
one  of  the  cavalry  battles  around  Tullahoma  that 


2O         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

great  soldier,  Gen.  James  Starnes,  had  been  killed. 
His  death  created  quite  a  gloom,  and,  had  he  lived, 
he  would  certainly  have  won  higher  rank.  Judge 
McLemore,  of  Franklin,  succeeded  to  his  command. 
General  Bragg  began  his  retrograde  movement 
toward  Chattanooga  in  June  (I  think),  very  wisely 
concluding  to  draw  the  Federals  farther  from  his 
base  before  risking  another  general  engagement. 
General  Wheeler  covered  his  rear,  which  the  enemy's 
cavalry  assailed  very  vigorously,  using  their  batteries 
freely.  This  continued  until  we  passed  over  Cum 
berland  Mountain,  both  armies  losing  quite  a  number 
in  killed  and  wounded,  some  prisoners  being  taken. 
After  passing  the  mountain  a  lull  in  the  operations 
of  both  armies  ensued.  The  Confederate  infantry 
had  passed  on  to  Chattanooga.  Wheeler's  cavalry, 
reaching  the  Tennessee  River,  passed  over  the  bridge 
at  Bridgeport  on  the  plank  flooring  that  had  been 
laid  upon  the  girders.  After  reaching  Shellmound, 
on  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  Railroad,  General 
Wheeler  was  ordered  to  go  to  Rome,  Ga.,  with  a 
view  to  recuperating  his  much-jaded  cavalry  horses. 
Here  we  remained  for  two  months  or  more  and  had 
the  only  real  rest  that  we  got  during  our  service  in 
the  army.  Rome  was  then  a  pleasant  little  city  of 
about  five  thousand  inhabitants,  surrounded  by  a 
rich  and  fertile  country.  Wheeler's  Cavalry  Corps 
numbered  about  five  thousand,  rank  and  file.  The 
quartermasters  of  the  respective  regiments  would  buy 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         21 

a  field  of  corn,  move  to  it,  and  remain  until  it  was 
exhausted,  and  then  move  on  to  another  purchase. 
The  horses  would  be  fed  on  the  corn,  stalks  and  all, 
using  a  plentiful  supply  of  salt,  besides  grazing  them 
on  grass  for  an  hour  or  two  eacli  day.  It  was  won 
derful  how  they  improved,  and  by  the  time  we  left 
there  they  looked  as  if  they  had  been  prepared  for  a 
State  Fair. 

The  soldiers,  too,  were  supplied  with  an  abun 
dance  of  substantial  and  wholesome  rations.  The 
strictest  discipline  prevailed.  Drills  were  the  or 
der  of  the  day,  with  both  officers  and  privates,  at 
least  two  hours  each  morning  and  evening.  Prayer 
meetings  and  services  by  the  respective  chaplains 
were  held  regularly,  were  well  attended,  and 
many  conversions  took  place.  Drs.  Bunting  and 
Hendricks,  our  brigade  and  regimental  chaplains, 
were  kept  busy  and  active  in  their  duties,  and  we 
know  that  many  lasting  and  substantial  conversions 
were  made  through  their  efforts.  We  also  had  an 
election  for  Tennessee  State  officers  while  there. 
The  Tennessee  troops  voted  for  Judge  Robert  L. 
Caruthers  for  Governor  and  for  their  respective 
Congressmen  in  their  districts.  The  State  Depart 
ment  was  at  Chattanooga  at  that  time,  and  we  sup 
pose  that  the  returns  of  the  election  were  made  to 
them.  We  have  never  seen  any  published  returns  of 
the  election,  but  suppose  it  held.  We  suppose  it  was 
the  only  election  ever  held  that  had  no  graft  or 


22         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

liquor  dispensed  as  an  inducement — truly  a  prohi 
bition  affair. 

By  the  time  we  were  ordered  to  move,  Wheeler's 
Corps  was  in  splendid  condition,  both  men  and 
horses.  Rumors  were  pending  of  a  great  battle,  and 
all  were  anxious  to  be  off  to  the  war  again.  Early 
in  September,  1863,  we  were  ordered  to  the  front. 
At  La  Fayette,  Ga,,  we  met  a  portion  of  General 
Bragg's  infantry.  He  had  remained  quietly  at 
Chattanooga  until  the  enemy  made  their  appearance 
in  front  of  the  city,  when  he  retreated  south;  and, 
marching  back  to  La  Fayette,  he  surprised  the  enemy, 
when  General  Rosecrans  hastened  to  get  his  scat 
tered  army  together  to  give  battle.  General  Thomas, 
with  his  large  corps,  had  crossed  the  Tennessee 
River  at  Bridgeport,  marching  across  Sand  Moun 
tain  toward  Rome,  Ga.,  and  was  separated  some 
distance  from  General  Rosecrans,  Our  brigade  was 
sent  back  to  Tryon  Factory  with  the  infantry  brigade 
of  General  Helm  to  meet  a  Federal  command,  which 
we  did.  After  some  sharp  fighting  they  retreated 
with  a  view  of  joining  the  main  column  of  Rose 
crans.  We  continued  on  their  trail,  after  several 
hard  contests  with  them,  notably  at  Bluebird  Gap 
and  other  places,  till  General  Thomas  had  taken 
position  in  McElmore's  Cove,  when  General  Bragg 
made  his  dispositions  to  capture  them.  General 
Hindman's  Division  was  ordered  to  a  gap  in  the 
mountain  to  prevent  Thomas's  escape ;  but  for  some 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         23 

reason  he  did  not  reach  it  in  time  to  prevent  it,  and 
Thomas  hurried  to  join  with  General  Rosecrans. 
This  failure  on  the  part  of  General  Hindman  to  get 
to  the  designated  point  in  time  is  said  to  have  brought 
about  an  inquiry  of  court-martial.  It  was  evident 
that  but  for  this  failure  we  would  have  captured 
General  Thomas's  splendid  corps.  General  Wheeler 
continued  his  skirmishing  with  the  right  wing  of 
General  Rosecrans's  army  till  we  reached  the  field  of 
Chickamauga  on  the  evening  of  the  iQth  of  Decem 
ber. 

We  relieved  General  Breckenridge's  Division  at 
Glass  Mill,  on  the  Chickamauga,  where  they  had 
had  a  considerable  battle  with  the  enemy  under  Gen 
eral  Negley.  Other  parts  of  General  Bragg's  line 
on  his  right  had  been  hotly  engaged  during  the  day 
and  late  in  the  evening  by  the  combined  attack  of 
Generals  Claiborne  and  Cheatham.  Some  success 
had  been  obtained  by  them. 

I  here  insert  a  paper  prepared  by  me  after  a  visit 
to  the  battle  field  of  Chickamauga  more  than  twenty 
years  afterwards,  and  which  I  was  invited  to  read 
before  Donelson  Bivouac  and  an  assemblage  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  in  their  hall  at  Gal- 
latin  : 

The  battle  of  Chickamauga  was  fought  on  Saturday  and 
Sunday,  September  19  and  20,  1863,  the  farthest  extremity  of 
the  field  being  about  thirteen  miles  southwest  of  Chattanooga, 
extending  up  to  about  seven  miles  of  that  city,  which  is  about 
the  dividing  line  between  the  States  of  Georgia  and  Tennessee. 


24         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

General  Rosecrans  was  in  command  of  the  Federal  forces,  and 
General  Bragg  was  in  command  of  the  Confederates. 

We  are  standing  to-day  on  the  exact  spot  in  the  old  field 
near  Glass  Mill  where  we  dismounted  to  fight,  and  from  which 
we  advanced  to  take  part  in  that  bloody  and  hard-fought  battle 
between  American  soldiers.  We  feel  that  we  are  standing 
upon  consecrated  ground,  baptized  as  it  has  been  by  the  best 
and  purest  blood  that  ever  pulsated  in  human  veins.  It  was 
here,  amid  the  smoke  of  battle,  that  the  forms  of  personal 
friends  and  comrades  faded  from  our  sight  and  we  beheld 
them  no  more.  As  we  gaze  up  into  the  blue  skies  that  pan 
oply  these  mountains  and  valleys,  we  seem  to  feel  that  their 
spirits  hover  around  here  yet,  and  that  we  can  again  commune 
with  them.  As  imagination  paints,  we  feel  that  same  inspiring 
emotion  which  nothing  on  earth  can  excite  save  the  busy  prep 
aration  for  battle.  As  we  listen  to  its  roar — the  boom  of 
cannon,  the  crash  of  musketry,  the  shouts  of  advancing  col 
umns — we  experience  the  light,  airy  feeling,  twitching  of  the 
nerves,  and  restless  expectation  that  an  impending  conflict 
alone  can  produce,  and  feel  that  we  breathe  an  atmosphere 
high  above  this  earth. 

Rosecrans  in  advancing  from  Chattanooga  had  marched 
by  his  right  flank  toward  the  Alabama  line.  He  had  sup 
posed  that  General  Bragg  was  retreating;  and  when  Bragg 
marched  back,  taking  position  at  La  Fayette,  Ga.,  he  seem 
ingly  became  alarmed  and,  with  a  view  of  getting  together 
his  scattered  columns,  marched  back  toward  Chattanooga 
along  the  line  of  Missionary  Ridge,  covered  by  the  moun 
tainous  country  and  the  Chickamauga  River  south  of  his 
line  of  march.  About  ten  days  before  the  battle  Wharton's 
Division  of  cavalry,  to  which  he  belonged,  was  ordered  up 
from  Rome,  Ga.,  where  we  had  been  since  our  retreat  from 
Middle  Tennessee.  This  inactivity  had  become  tiresome,  and 
the  order  to  move  was  received  with  delight.  The  air  was 
pregnant  with  rumors.  A  great  battle  was  said  to  be  immi 
nent.  The  men  moved  with  alacrity  and  determination,  for 
they  felt  that  the  opportunity  was  at  hand  when  they  could 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         25 

regain  lost  territory  and  drive  the  enemy  beyond  their  homes. 
Some  scouting  and  skirmishing  took  place  before  the  general 
engagement.  We  remember  that  at  Tryon  Factory,  Bluebird 
Gap,  McLemore's  Cove,  and  other  places  we  had  hard  fighting, 
driving  in  their  right  flank.  General  Forrest  with  his  cavalry 
had  opened  the  fight  at  Reed's  Bridge,  on  the  Chickamauga,  on 
Friday,  the  i8th.  On  Saturday,  the  igth,  most  of  the  Confed 
erate  army  had  passed  to  the  north  side  of  the  river  and  con 
fronted  the  enemy,  whose  right  wing  rested  at  Lee  &  Gordon's 
mill  and  extended  in  a  northern  direction,  covering  the  roads 
leading  from  La  Fayette  to  Chattanooga.  Fighting  took  place 
during  the  day,  and  late  in  the  evening,  by  a  united  charge  by 
Cleburne's  and  Cheatham's  Divisions,  they  drove  the  enemy 
and  gained  some  advantage,  but  with  considerable  loss.  Gen 
eral  Longstreet  arrived  late  that  evening,  and  a  portion  of  his 
corps  came  upon  the  field  that  night — to  wit,  McLaws's  and 
Hood's  small  divisions,  numbering  not  exceeding  eight  thou 
sand  muskets.  This  was  the  only  portion  of  his  corps  that 
participated  in  the  next  day's  battle.  On  consultation  that 
night  at  Bragg's  headquarters,  the  Confederate  army  was 
divided  into  two  wings,  General  Polk  to  command  the  right 
and  General  Longstreet  the  left.  The  order  was  for  Polk 
to  commence  the  fight  on  the  morrow  at  daylight,  when  it  was 
to  be  taken  up  successively  along  the  line  to  the  left.  For 
some  cause  the  attack  did  not  commence  until  late  in  the  day, 
which  circumstance  did  and  has  since  caused  serious  comment 
regarding  the  result.  We  thought  then  and  see  now  that 
if  the  Confederates  had  had  two  more  hours  of  daylight 
General  Thomas  would  have  shared  the  fate  of  McCook  and 
Crittenden,  commanding  the  other  two  corps  of  the  enemy, 
and  would  have  been  completely  shattered  and  broken  to 
pieces.  This  failure  of  the  brave  old  Bishop  to  come  to  time 
was  afterwards  the  subject  of  court-martial  investigation, 
though  no  one  ever  doubted  his  courage  or  loyalty  to  the 
cause  for  which  he  afterwards  gave  his  life ;  yet  history  will 
hold  him  responsible  for  the  great  mistake,  whether  caused 
by  subordinates  or  not.  It  was  midday,  we  suppose,  when 


26         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

General  Wharton's  Division  was  dismounted  in  the  old  field 
upon  the  bank  of  the  Chickamauga  at  Glass's  Mill.  They 
formed  the  left  of  Bragg5  s  line  of  battle,  with  Hood's  Division 
on  our  right  at  Lee  &  Gordon's  mill.  We  judged  from  the 
firing  that  the  line  of  battle  was  some  five  miles  in  length,  and 
that  the  battle  was  raging  with  desperate  fury  at  this  time. 

It  was  Sunday — a  calm,  clear  September  day  in  the  moun 
tains  of  Georgia,  amid  scenery  that  Switzerland  could  not  excel 
in  romantic  grandeur.  The  rich  green  foliage  of  the  mountains 
served  as  a  background,  and  from  its  sides  and  gorges  arose  in 
dense  volumes  the  sulphurous  smoke  of  battle.  The  fiery  wave 
of  battle  boiled  and  surged  in  its  maddening  fury  during  the 
evening  and  until  nightfall.  Commencing  on  the  right,  the 
deafening  thunder  would  roll  along  the  line  toward  the  left, 
when  it  would  be  taken  up  and  swept  back  to  where  it  started. 
The  sound  indicated  with  accuracy  the  result  in  different  parts 
of  the  field ;  for  as  a  column  would  advance  to  the  charge  you 
would  first  hear  the  rapid  and  quick  discharge  of  the  batteries, 
indicating  that  their  position  was  threatened,  then  would  come 
a  crash  of  musketry  as  if  every  tree  in  the  forest  had  fallen, 
and  high  above  all  this  the  shouts  of  the  Confederates.  For 
a  moment  a  deathlike  silence  would  ensue  just  there,  unmis 
takably  evidencing  the  fact  that  the  battery  had  been  taken 
or  driven  from  the  field.  This  would  hardly  die  away  at  a 
given  point  before  it  would  be  repeated  successively  along  the 
line  and  echoed  back  again,  swelling  at  times  to  such  a  mighty 
chorus  manufactured  from  the  thunders  of  war  that  it  seemed 
that  both  heaven  and  earth  would  be  torn  asunder.  Truly 

"Such  a  din  was  there, 
As  if  men  fought  on  earth  below 
And  fiends  in  upper  air." 

We  feel  our  inability  to  give  more  than  a  faint  conception 
of  the  grandeur  of  the  scene  that  met  the  eyes  and  fell  upon 
the  ears  of  those  who  participated  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga. 
They  can  never  cease  to  remember  it.  The  roar  of  the  four 
hundred  cannon  from  Round  Top  and  Cemetery  Hill,  at 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         27 

Gettysburg,  which  preceded  Pickett's  charge,  has  never  been 
equaled,  though  the  casualties  resulting  from  this  grand 
artillery  duel  were  comparatively  few;  while  at  Chickamauga 
all  day  long  on  Sunday  there  was  a  series  of  infantry  charges 
upon  batteries  in  chosen  position,  in  which  whole  companies 
and  regiments  were  swept  away  like  the  morning  mist  before 
the  rays  of  the  sun. 

While  sitting  upon  our  horses  listening  to  all  this,  we 
noticed  a  courier  gallop  up  to  General  Wharton  and  deliver 
a  message.  We  were  ordered  to  dismount,  as  heretofore 
stated,  and  advance  toward  a  battery  that  was  shelling  us  from 
an  eminence  across  the  Chickamauga  and  about  one-half  mile 
distant.  The  order  to  advance  was  received  with  lusty  cheers, 
for  the  men  were  chafing  to  go  forward.  The  brigade  was 
composed  of  the  Eighth  and  Eleventh  Texas,  the  First  Ken 
tucky,  and  the  Fourth  Tennessee  Regiments.  Col.  Thomas 
Harrison,  of  the  Eighth  Texas,  commanded  the  brigade  as 
senior  officer,  and  Lieut.  Col.  Paul  Anderson  was  in  command 
of  the  Fourth  Tennessee,  which  was  on  the  right  of  the  brigade. 
We  moved  in  column  down  the  road  leading  to  the  river  and, 
fording  the  stream  near  the  mill,  formed  a  line  of  battle  in 
regular  infantry  style  in  the  edge  of  low,  level  beech  woods, 
and,  placing  our  skirmishers  a  short  distance  in  front,  ad 
vanced  through  the  woods.  The  enemy  knew  that  we  were 
coming  and  kept  up  an  incessant  shelling  of  the  woods,  some 
of  our  men  being  injured  by  limbs  of  trees  torn  off  by  the 
cannon  balls.  We  had  advanced  but  a  short  distance  when 
the  skirmishers  became  hotly  engaged,  which  was  the  signal 
for  a  rapid  advance,  and  we  swept  through  the  woods,  driving 
the  enemy  before  us.  They  rallied  at  a  fence  at  the  edge  of 
the  woodland,  delivered  an  effective  volley,  and  fell  back  across 
a  little  field  to  a  new  line  behind  a  fence  and  on  the  edge  of 
another  woodland  along  an  eminence  where  their  artillery  was 
planted.  As  our  line  emerged  from  the  wood  into  the  open 
space  this  battery,  shotted  with  grape,  and  the  line  behind  the 
fence,  armed  with  seven-shooting  Spencer  rifles,  opened  on 
us,  and  a  perfect  hailstorm  of  deadly  missiles  filled  the  air. 


28         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Being  commanded  to  lie  down,  we  did  so  for  a  few  moments, 
and  then  arose  and  charged  across  the  field.  Just  here  we 
sustained  our  heaviest  loss,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  Fourth 
Tennessee  had  forty  men  shot  down  as  we  arose  from  the 
ground.  As  we  rushed  across  the  field  the  line  sustaining  the 
battery  broke ;  and  as  they  ran  off  many  were  killed  and 
wounded,  two  or  three  hundred  of  them  surrendering  in  a 
body.  We  were  struck  here  with  the  gallantry  of  a  Federal 
officer.  He  was  on  horseback  and  with  drawn  saber  was 
attempting  to  hold  his  men  to  their  position.  He  was  killed, 
and  his  body  fell  into  our  hands.  Papers  upon  his  person 
indicated  that  he  was  colonel  of  the  First  Ohio  Regiment. 
We  went  half  a  mile  farther  until  we  drove  them  beyond 
Crawfish  Springs,  the  field  hospital  of  the  Federal  army. 
This  explained,  what  we  could  not  understand  at  the  time, 
why  we  were  making  a  fight  so  far  from  the  line  of  our 
infantry.  The  Federals  had  been  driven  from  the  line  of  the 
Chickamauga,  and,  this  being  the  only  water  accessible  to 
them,  they  had  made  Crawfish  Springs  their  field  hospital. 
We  have  learned  since  that  we  were  fighting  the  division  of 
Gen.  George  Crook.  Both  sides  lost  quite  a  number  in  killed 
and  wounded.  Where  a  stand  had  been  made  they  were 
thick  upon  the  ground.  The  line  of  attack  for  a  mile  was 
well  defined ;  but,  really,  though  we  gained  the  fight  and  drove 
them  from  the  field,  our  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  as 
great  as  theirs.  The  immense  crowd  of  men,  tents,  vehicles, 
etc.,  at  Crawfish  Springs  caused  us  to  believe  at  first  that  we 
had  captured  the  whole  Federal  army.  Dead  men  in  rail  pens 
for  protection  and  wounded  men  in  large  circus  tents  were  scat 
tered  about  over  acres  of  ground,  with  the  accustomed  retinue 
of  hospital  assistants  and  not  a  few  shirkers  from  the  fight. 
This  spring  is  one  of  the  largest  and  purest  of  clear  water 
I  have  ever  seen.  Its  volume  is  large  enough  to  supply  a 
great  city,  and  the  stream  that  flows  from  it  is  that  of  a 
small  river.  After  detailing  a  guard  to  hold  the  captives, 
the  remainder  of  the  command  were  marched  back  to  their 
horses.  The  road  was  full  of  our  ambulances,  litters,  etc., 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         29 

bearing  off  the  dead  and  wounded.  Here  was  presented  that 
other  phase  of  grim-visaged  war,  sickening  to  look  upon: 
friends  and  comrades  dead  and  dying  who  a  few  hours  before 
were  full  of  life  and  soldierly  enthusiasm ;  men  with  their 
pale,  ashy  countenances  turned  toward  the  sky.  Such  scenes 
dissipate  the  excitement  that  the  advance  creates.  A  friend 
who  was  mortally  wounded  recognized  me  as  we  passed.  As 
he  evidently  wished  to  say  something  to  me,  I  stopped  and 
took  his  cold,  icy  hand.  Fixing  his  glassy  eyes  upon  me,  he  said 
in  a  faltering  voice :  "Let  my  people  at  home  know  that  I  died 
like  a  true  soldier."  He  died  that  night ;  and  his  body  rests 
somewhere  upon  the  field  his  valor  helped  to  win,  though  his 
name  will  never  appear  in  the  "count  of  the  battle."  His  was 
the  fate  of  thousands  of  gallant  spirits  whose  memory  lives  in 
the  hearts  of  a  small  circle  of  acquaintances,  but  whose  heroism 
has  made  their  commanders  great  in  song  and  story. 

I  have  had  a  desire  to  visit  these  scenes  ever  since  the  war 
closed.  Soldiers  are  rushed  upon  battle  fields  and  rushed 
away,  leaving  a  desire  to  visit  them  again.  It  was  just 
twenty-four  years  ago  and  the  same  hour  of  the  day  when 
I  last  saw  this  field  where  Harrison's  Brigade  made  their 
fight,  yet  many  things  are  true  to  the  impressions  left;  and 
what  a  rush  of  buried  memories  are  resurrected!  The  old 
mill  where  we  crossed  the  Chickamauga  looks  the  same.  The 
woodman's  ax  has  leveled  the  dense  beech  grove  on  the  north 
side  through  which  we  moved  to  the  attack.  A  few  scattering 
trees  are  still  standing  to  indicate  the  character  of  timber 
that  once  stood  upon  the  ground.  Now  it  is  an  inclosed  field, 
upon  which  is  growing  in  rich  luxuriance  "the  tall  yellow 
corn."  I  tried  to  follow  the  line  of  our  advance,  and  sup 
pose  I  did  so  from  the  fact  that,  the  timber  being  cleared 
away,  the  high  ground  upon  which  the  enemy's  battery  was 
located  is  plainly  to  be  seen.  I  fancied  that  I  found  the  little 
hillock  on  the  far  edge  of  the  woodland  where  we  were  or 
dered  to  lie  down  while  the  enemy's  shot  sprinkled  us  with 
gravel.  I  cut  a  cornstalk  from  the  spot  where  so  many  of 
our  men  were  shot  down,  and  have  it  yet  as  a  memento.  The 


30         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

low  log  house  on  Snodgrass  Hill  is  still  standing,  and  looks 
as  it  did  then.  It  was  here  that  we  captured  so  many  can 
nons.  This  point  in  the  field  is  upon  its  southern  extremity, 
situated  between  the  road  leading  from  La  Fayette  and  the 
one  leading  from  Crawfish  Springs  to  Chattanooga.  Just 
here  the  hardest  fighting  occurred.  The  field  is  still  an  im 
mense  rugged  and  woody  forest,  and  no  particular  marks 
can  be  seen  except  now  and  then  the  tall  stump  of  a  tree. 
All  through  the  woods  for  miles  the  bodies  of  the  trees  have 
been  chopped  by  curio  hunters.  In  a  dense  jungle  at  the 
foot  of  Snodgrass  Hill  I  noticed  a  number  of  graves.  The 
letters  on  the  rotted  boards  indicated  that  they  were  Ala- 
bamians.  The  Dyer,  Vittitoe,  Glenn,  and  Ross  houses  have 
been  preserved,  and  look  as  they  did  then.  But  after  travel 
ing  over  the  field  for  hours,  I  might  say  with  truth  that  there 
is  nothing  here  to  tell  the  stranger  of  the  spot  where  one  of 
the  bloodiest  battles  in  the  world's  history  was  fought.  Hun 
dreds  of  brave  men  of  both  armies  were  buried  here  in  their 
blankets,  and  hardly  a  sign  seems  to  mark  their  resting  place. 
But  the  name  and  fame  of  Chickamauga  will  live  in  history 
as  long  as  Lookout  lifts  its  rocky  ribs  to  the  skies  or  the 
river  of  death  winds  its  way  to  the  sea.  As  I  stood  there 
musing  I  could  not  but  ask  myself  the  questions :  Where  are  the 
men  who  were  actors  in  this  bloody  drama  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago  ?  Where  is  the  spirit  that  pervaded  this  immense 
host  and  drove  them  to  deeds  of  blood  and  slaughter?  The 
glory,  pomp,  and  circumstance  of  war  have  departed,  and  to 
such  as  survived  that  field  and  the  long  years  that  have  passed 
since  then  it  seems  as  a  shadowy  dream,  without  the  semblance 
of  reality. 

But  to  resume :  On  Sunday  night  we  slept  upon  the  field 
near  General  Longstreet's  headquarters,  at  the  foot  of  Snod 
grass  Hill.  At  an  early  hour  the  Fourth  Tennessee  was  or 
dered  to  report  to  him  for  orders.  We  then  anticipated  a 
renewal  of  the  battle.  He  sent  us  forward  toward  Chatta 
nooga  to  report  the  whereabouts  of  the  enemy.  I  remember 
that  we  passed  a  little  white  house  near  the  Chattanooga 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         31 

Road.  As  we  approached  it,  I  noticed  a  hog  running  through 
the  woods  with  a  soldier's  amputated  leg  in  its  mouth.  This 
was  one  of  our  field  hospitals,  the  window  of  which  was  some 
three  or  four  feet  from  the  ground.  The  surgeons  within  as 
they  amputated  a  limb  would  throw  it  out  of  the  window.  The 
pile  outside  was  so  high  that  they  would  have  to  brush  away 
the  topmost  limbs.  Just  beyond  here  was  an  elevated  plateau 
where  a  hard  struggle  had  taken  place.  As  many  as  six  bat 
teries  of  the  enemy  had  been  broken  to  pieces.  Horses  were 
piled  thick  one  upon  the  other,  mangled  and  torn  in  every  con 
ceivable  shape.  Behind  these  batteries  was  a  long  line  of 
Federals  who  had  been  killed  where  they  lay.  The  fence 
had  caught  fire,  and  many  of  the  bodies  were  burned  into  a 
dark  crisp.  Every  tree  and  bush  was  marked  by  balls,  and 
in  some  places  large  trees  were  torn  to  pieces.  To  see  it,  you 
would  conclude  that  a  small  bird  could  not  have  survived  the 
storm  of  bullets  that  swept  like  a  cyclone  through  the  forest. 

I  have  seen  paintings  depicting  the  horrors  of  the  battle 
field  which  I  supposed  were  overdrawn ;  but  this  idea  was 
dispelled  at  Chickamauga,  and  I  appreciate  now  the  fact  that 
the  imagination  cannot  always  do  it  justice.  All  through  the 
woods  were  telegraph  wires  thrown  over  the  top  of  the  bushes, 
connecting  every  part  of  the  Federal  line.  These  were  incased 
in  something  resembling  a  cotton  rope.  Our  men  utilized 
them  for  bridle  reins.  Everywhere  we  found  abandoned 
property  and  gathered  up  many  prisoners — indicating  not 
only  a  defeat,  but  a  rout  of  the  enemy.  We  sent  back  cou 
riers  all  day  long  with  this  information,  but  no  pursuit  was 
made.  We  went  forward  on  Missionary  Ridge  as  far  as 
Rossville  and  in  sight  of  Chattanooga,  where  great  conster 
nation  existed  among  the  enemy.  We  were  informed  that 
some  of  them  were  escaping  to  the  north  side  of  the  Tennessee 
River.  On  Tuesday,  the  22d,  with  the  remainder  of  General 
Wheeler's  Cavalry  Corps,  we  came  through  McFarland's  Gap 
and  skirmished  with  the  enemy  close  up  to  the  corporate  limits 
of  Chattanooga.  We  captured  their  signal  flag  on  the  point 
of  Lookout.  Its  operator  worked  his  machine  until  hands, 


32         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

were  laid  upon  him.  We  skirmished  all  day,  losing  some 
men  in  killed  and  wounded.  In  the  evening  we  were  with 
drawn,  and  here  ended  the  battle  of  Chickamauga. 

The  humblest  soldier  believes  we  could  easily  have  captured 
the  Federal  army  on  Monday,  the  21  st  of  September.  The 
superior  valor  of  the  Confederate  soldier  was  again  published 
to  the  world,  but  the  full  measure  which  soldierly  courage  had 
won  at  fearful  cost  was  permitted  to  slip  away.  I  fully  concur 
in  the  comment  made  by  a  gallant  Federal  officer,  in  speaking 
of  Chickamauga  the  other  day,  that  "it  was  the  bravest  stand- 
ing-up  fight  of  the  Civil  War."  It  has  never  been  depicted  as 
have  been  the  battle  fields  of  Virginia;  but  no  field  save 
Gettysburg,  where  the  forces  engaged  were  larger,  can  show 
such  a  list  of  killed  and  wounded  as  lay  upon  that  field  on 
Sunday  night  after  the  battle.  The  best-authenticated  reports 
from  both  sides  place  the  killed  and  wounded  alone  at  34,000. 
General  Bragg  had  about  55,ooo  men,  and  General  Rosecrans 
had  about  65,000  or  70,000.  The  great  battle  of  Waterloo  did 
not  reach  this  per  centum  by  one-half.  The  Confederates 
captured  8,000  or  10,000  (not  including  their  wounded),  51 
pieces  or  artillery,  15,000  stands  of  arms,  a  large  amount  of 
ordinance  stores  and  camp  equipage.  The  enemy  were  driven 
from  every  portion  of  the  field,  leaving  it  in  possession  of  the 
Confederates.  It  was  fought  on  ground  of  their  own  choosing. 
In  some  parts  they  had  erected  breastwork  protection  that 
had  to  be  assailed  by  Confederates,  frequently  in  exposed 
fields ;  but  they  were  driven  from  every  inch  of  the  field,  leaving 
their  killed  and  wounded  in  our  possession.  The  Confederate 
loss  in  killed  and  wounded  amounted  to  17,300,  and  the  Federal 
loss  in  killed  and  wounded  16,800 — this  for  the  reason  that  the 
Confederates,  being  the  attacking  party,  were,  of  course,  the 
more  exposed. 

Northern  writers  and  speakers  sometimes  claim  that  the 
Confederate  army  was  numerically  larger  at  Chickamauga  than 
the  Federal  army.  I  suppose  this  arises  from  the  fact  that 
they  think  General  Longstreet  was  there  with  his  entire  corps 
of  more  than  20,000,  when,  in  fact,  but  two  reduced  divisions 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         33 

of  his  corps  were  there  to  take  part  in  the  battle — namely, 
Hood's  and  McLaws's  Divisions — and  they  participated  only 
in  the  last  day's  battle.  These  two  divisions  did  not  ex 
ceed  8,000.  Bragg  retreated  to  Chattanooga  from  Middle 
Tennessee  a  few  months  before  with  about  35>ooo,  and  the 
only  accessions  he  had  to  his  army  were  Quarles's  Brigade, 
from  Mobile,  numbering  3,000,  Hood's  and  McLaws's  Divi 
sions,  and  a  few  loose  detachments  he  had  collected  up  from 
his  department.  His  entire  force  could  not  have  numbered 
more  than  55,000. 

These  writers  grow  very  eloquent  over  Missionary  Ridge 
and  draw  gorgeous  pictures  of  the  "battle  above  the  clouds." 
The  two  fields  are  contiguous,  and  the  battles  were  fought 
within  a  few  weeks  of  each  other.  They  do  not  admit  of  a 
comparison.  I  would  not  rob  the  Federal  soldier  of  a  single 
laurel,  but  what  are  the  facts?  After  the  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga,  Longstreet  had  left,  taking  with  him  General  Bushrod 
Johnson's  Division  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee,  and  other 
troops  had  returned  to  their  stations;  and  General  Bragg  was 
holding  Missionary  Ridge  with  a  force  not  exceeding  25,000 
men,  who  were  clamoring  for  a  change  of  commanders.  What 
could  they  now  promise  themselves  with  a  smaller  army 
against  a  heavily  reenforced  enemy?  All  of  the  renowned 
Federal  leaders  were  at  Missionary  Ridge — Grant,  Sherman, 
Hooker,  Sheridan,  and  others — with  an  army  of  over  100,000. 
With  such  numerical  strength  and  the  prestige  of  such  com 
manders  it  was  possible,  as  it  proved,  to  break  through  our 
thin  line  at  a  given  point  and,  taking  it  in  reverse,  to  drive  the 
Confederates  from  their  position.  But  here  was  committed  a 
graver  error  than  Bragg  had  made  at  Chickamauga,  for  the 
Confederate  army  should  have  been  captured.  Instead  of  a 
vigorous  onset  and  pursuit,  but  a  feeble  one  was  made,  and 
that  was  arrested  by  a  single  division  under  Pat  Cleburne  at 
Ringgold  Gap,  a  few  miles  below  there. 

Chickamauga  and  Gettysburg  were  the  two  great  battles  of 
the  war,  the  one  in  the  Middle  West  and  the  other  in  the  East. 
They  were  the  pivotal  fields  upon  which  the  cause  of  the  South 

3 


34         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

turned.  Two  more  hours  of  daylight  at  Chickamauga  on 
Sunday,  and  an  assault  by  General  Lee  at  Gettysburg  with 
his  entire  army,  would  have  brought  about  a  different  result. 
On  these  two  occasions  the  Confederate  had  reached  the 
zenith  of  his  strength  and  enthusiasm.  After  this  he  was 
too  intelligent  not  to  know  that  we  was  wasting  his  weaken 
ing  strength  beating  against  a  mighty  stone  which  gathered 
force  as  it  moved.  He  fought  bravely  and  with  some  degree 
of  success  until  the  last,  but  with  the  desperation  of  a  for 
lorn  hope. 

We  cannot  conclude  without  saying  a  word  to  the  ladies 
who  have  honored  this  occasion  with  their  presence.  In  fact, 
any  meeting  of  Confederate  soldiers  would  be  incomplete 
without  your  presence.  I  would  not  be  extravagant  in  what 
I  say;  but  in  truth  the  Southern  woman  has  been  the  truest, 
the  best,  and  the  most  devoted  friend  the  Confederate  soldier 
ever  had.  During  the  war  she  was  his  ministering  angel 
in  the  camp,  on  the  march,  and  in  the  hospital.  She  has  been 
the  light  and  sunshine  of  the  desolated  home  that  the  war 
left  him.  Her  sweet  words  of  cheer  have  smoothed  the 
rugged  pathway  of  life  and  have  guided  his  footsteps  toward 
prosperity  again.  Her  devotion  has  never  flagged  nor  faltered 
for  a  moment;  and  to-day  she  is  at  work  aiding  and  assisting 
the  old,  disabled,  and  indigent  soldier,  making  happy  his  declin 
ing  years.  How  can  we  forget  you  ?  We  should  be  untrue  to 
every  principle  of  gratitude  to  do  so.  Before  I  die  I  want  to  see 
some  lasting  testimonial  given  expressive  of  our  appreciation. 
Were  I  permitted  to  name  it,  it  would  be  a  shaft  of  the  purest 
marble,  the  tall  summit  of  which  would  touch  the  skies,  and 
I  would  plant  it  upon  the  highest  point  of  old  Lookout,  in 
full  view  of  Chickamauga's  ensanguined  field,  where  so  many 
of  the  sons  of  Tennessee  gave  their  lives  for  what  is  just 
and  right. 


CHAPTER  III. 
WHEELER'S  RAID  INTO  MIDDLE  TENNESSEE  IN  1863. 

IN  the  latter  part  of  September,  1863,  just  after 
the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  by  order  of  General 
Bragg,  General  Wheeler  was  sent  into  Middle  Ten 
nessee  with  his  cavalry  corps.  The  Army  of  Ten 
nessee  was  occupying  the  field  they  had  so  gallantly 
won  at  Chickamauga.  He  moved  up  the  Cleveland 
Road  to  Red  Clay,  and  forded  the  Tennessee  River 
at  or  near  Cottonport,  some  thirty  miles  above 
Chattanooga.  The  object  of  the  raid  was  to  cut  off 
all  supplies  from  the  North  for  Rosecrans's  army, 
then  at  Chattanooga.  The  Nashville  and  Chatta 
nooga  Railroad  from  Bridgeport  to  Chattanooga 
was  then  in  possession  of  the  Confederates.  The 
opposite  bank  of  the  Tennessee  was  closely  picketed 
by  the  enemy,  and  the  command  was  to  keep  as  still 
as  possible  so  as  not  to  draw  their  attention  until 
we  had  crossed.  We  reached  the  ford  after  a  night's 
ride,  and  rested  there  till  daylight.  I  can  never  for 
get  the  beauty  and  picturesqueness  of  the  scene  that 
was  presented  that  moonlight  night,  when  four  or 
five  thousand  cavalry  forded  the  beautiful  Tennessee. 
It  happened  that  the  Fourth  Tennessee  Regiment 
was  in  front ;  and,  headed  by  a  single  guide,  we  de 
scended  the  banks  and  dropped  into  the  river,  and 


36        Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

then  the  line  swung  down  the  stream  across  the  sil 
very  surface  of  the  broad  waters,  like  the  windings 
of  a  huge  dark  serpent.  When  we  reached  the  op 
posite  shore,  I  looked  back  upon  the  scene  presented. 
This,  with  the  reflection  that  we  had  turned  our 
faces  homeward  again  after  our  glorious  victory, 
was  soul-inspiring  indeed.  Nearly  half  a  century 
has  elapsed,  but  its  recollection  is  as  vivid  in  my 
memory  as  it  was  then.  No  creation  of  art  could 
have  been  more  imposing.  There  is  too  much  stern 
reality  in  a  soldier's  life  for  such  to  claim  his  atten 
tion,  but  this  scene  has-  left  an  impression  that  I  can 
never  forget. 

As  we  reached  the  opposite  shore  the  gray  dawn 
of  a  bright  September  morning  was  breaking  upon 
us.  About  one-half  of  the  regiment  was  dismount 
ed  and  silently  moved  up  the  bank.  But  a  few  mo 
ments  had  elapsed  before  the  bang  of  a  solitary  gun 
was  heard,  and  in  another  second  bang !  bang !  bang ! 
went  the  guns,  and  then  a  perfect  fusillade.  All 
were  now  wide  awake,  and  the  stillness  of  the 
scene  was  suddenly  transformed  into  busy  prepara 
tion  for  a  fight.  Another  regiment  was  hurried 
forward,  and  thundered  down  the  road  leading  from 
the  river  in  the  direction  of  the  firing.  A  few  more 
shots  were  heard,  and  all  was  still  again.  A  large 
picket  of  mounted  men  had  been  driven  off  with  the 
loss  of  several  men  and  some  prisoners.  The  re 
mainder  of  the  command  moved  out  from  the  river 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         37 

as  they  came  over,  and  in  due  time  all  were  safely 
over.  The  trail  of  the  ford  was  a  devious  one  and 
very  deep  in  places.  One  would  reasonably  suppose 
that  many  mishaps  would  have  occurred,  but  noth 
ing  of  a  serious  character  happened. 

The  command  then  moved  toward  Middle  Tennes 
see  across  the  mountains  into  the  Sequatchie  Valley, 
where  we  went  into  camp  for  the  night  at  the  cross 
roads.  Nothing  of  note  occurred  during  the  day. 
About  daylight  the  following  morning  we  were 
aroused  by  an  order  to  saddle  up  and  mount  our 
horses,  as  the  bugle  sounded  "boots  and  saddles."  In 
a  few  moments  more  we  were  moving  down  the  val 
ley  at  a  rapid  rate,  not  knowing  at  the  time  what  was 
up.  How  vividly  these  stirring  scenes  flit  across  my 
memory !  And  how  many  incidents  of  dash  and  spir 
it  do  they  bring  to  mind  of  the  early  morning  "rack 
et,  when  from  out  the  empty  saddlebows  bravely 
they  fell" !  A  few  miles  away  we  commenced  over 
hauling  Federal  wagons,  partially  plundered;  then 
the  cry  of  a  wagon  train  was  raised.  As  the  pace 
quickened,  these  captures  thickened  along  the  way; 
and  after  going  ten  or  twelve  miles  down  the  valley 
to  the  vicinity  of  Jasper,  there  opened  the  richest 
scene  that  the  eye  of  a  cavalryman  can  behold. 
Along  the  side  of  the  mountain  hundreds  of  large 
Federal  wagons  were  standing,  with  their  big  white 
covers  on  them,  like  so  many  African  elephants, 
solemn  in  their  stately  grandeur.  They  had  been 


38         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

rushed  up  there  by  the  teamsters  and  abandoned. 
This  was  too  rich  a  bonanza  to  be  left  without 
an  escort;  and  in  a  few  moments  the  rifles  sound 
ed  from  the  mountain  sides,  indicating  that  we 
would  have  to  do  some  fighting  for  such  booty. 
Men  were  dismounted  in  haste  and  hurried  to  the 
right  and  left.  A  vigorous  fire  was  kept  up  for  a 
while,  when  the  enemy,  seeing  that  they  were  great 
ly  outnumbered,  surrendered  after  some  casualties 
on  both  sides.  The  escort  numbered  1,200,  with 
many  drivers  of  the  wagons.  Some  of  them  had  es 
caped  by  cutting  loose  the  mules  and  mounting  them. 
We  knew  that  there  was  a  large  infantry  force 
not  many  miles  away,  and  we  set  to  work  destroy 
ing  everything  at  once.  Orders  were  given  that 
no  plunder  was  to  be  carried  off.  This,  however, 
was  but  partially  enforced.  The  wagons  were  load 
ed  with  all  manner  of  clothing  and  rations  for  the 
army  of  General  Rosecrans.  Among  the  wagons 
were  a  number  belonging  to  sutlers,  with  rich  stores 
of  all  kinds.  The  result  of  the  capture  was  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  wagons,  twenty-six  hundred  fat 
mules,  and  twelve  hundred  prisoners.  The  wagons, 
or  the  most  of  them,  were  loaded  with  rations  for 
the  army.  The  enemy  were  afraid  to  risk  railroad 
transportation,  and  were  endeavoring  to  provision 
their  army  at  Chattanooga  by  means  oi  wagons 
from  McMinnville.  It  had  rained  the  night  before 
and  left  the  roads  so  slippery  that  the  wagons  could 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         39 

not  go  over  the  steep  mountain  pass.  Such  of  the 
mules  as  we  could  not  take  off  were  destroyed.  The 
wagons  and  the  greater  part  of  their  contents  were 
destroyed  on  the  spot,  the  debris  covering  acres  of 
ground.  I  was  particularly  struck  with  the  fine  har 
ness  that  had  been  stripped  from  the  mules,  as  it  lay 
chin-deep  over  ten  acres  of  ground.  Such  a  calamity 
as  this  would  have  been  most  seriously  felt  by  us, 
and  would  have  retarded  movements  for  months ;  but 
with  "Uncle  Sam,"  with  all  the  world  at  his  back, 
it  made  no  perceptible  difference.  If  it  created  a 
ripple  of  discomfort  anywhere,  we  never  had  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  it. 

From  here  we  moved  on  toward  McMinnville, 
traveling  all  night  long  with  the  prisoners,  mules, 
and  a  few  of  the  wagons.  General  Dibrell  had  been 
sent  forward  from  the  crossroads  where  we  camped 
to  take  McMinnville.  We  reached  there  the  next 
morning.  Dibrell  had  captured  the  garrison  of 
four  hundred,  with  stores  that  had  been  shipped 
there  by  rail  to  be  transported  by  wagon  train  to 
Chattanooga.  It  was  said  that  there  was  a  full  suit 
of  clothing  for  every  soldier  in  Rosecrans's  army, 
besides  an  immense  amount  of  rations.  During  the 
night  we  overtook  the  guard  in  charge  of  the  pris 
oners  on  foot.  As  we  passed  them  I  noticed  a  boy 
among  them  who  could  not  have  been  over  ten  or 
twelve  years  of  age,  dressed  in  full  Federal  uniform. 
I  asked  him  what  he  was  doing  there,  and  he  an- 


40        Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

swered  that  he  was  a  soldier  and  a  marker  for  a 
Michigan  regiment.  I  took  him  up  behind  me  and 
carried  him  the  remainder  of  the  night,  leaving  him 
with  the  guard  in  charge  of  other  prisoners  captured 
at  McMinnville.  We  now  had  about  sixteen  hun 
dred  prisoners  on  our  hands,  and  the  most  perilous 
part  of  our  raid  was  still  before  us.  So  it  was  con 
cluded  that  we  would  parole  them.  Marching  them 
out  a  few  miles  from  McMinnville,  we  ordered  them 
to  hold  up  their  right  hands,  swearing  not  to  take  up 
arms  again  until  they  were  legally  exchanged,  and 
then  started  them  toward  the  Kentucky  line.  How 
many  of  them  observed  their  parole,  we  will  never 
know ;  but  it  seemed  to  us  then  and  afterwards  that 
for  every  one  we  killed  or  captured  half  a  dozen 
would  rise  up  in  their  places.  When  we  lost  a  man, 
he  was  "dead  for  certain,"  and,  worse  still,  none 
was  to  be  had  to  stand  in  his  place.  In  fact,  it  was 
this  that  forced  us  to  quit  fighting  after  four  years, 
during  which  time  we  had  the  satisfaction  of  know 
ing  that  we  were  giving  them  about  all  they  could 
stand  up  to,  and  this  after  calling  to  their  aid  the 
negroes  and  an  immense  foreign  importation. 

From  McMinnville  General  Wheeler  moved  to 
ward  Murfreesboro.  The  column  was  a  very  long 
and  cumbersome  one  with  the  mules  and  wagons 
we  were  attempting  to  take  with  us.  We  must 
have  been  close  on  the  rear  of  the  column,  for  by 
the  time  we  reached  Woodbury  (one-half  of  the 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.        41 

distance)  we  were  in  a  gallop;  and  when  we  reached 
Murfreesboro  we  were  at  running  speed.  We 
found  the  command  in  line  of  battle  close  up  to  the 
town,  forming  a  semicircle  covering  the  roads  lead 
ing  to  the  south.  We  took  position  in  line,  and 
remained  there  probably  half  the  day,  expecting 
every  moment  to  be  ordered  to  charge  the  town. 
All  at  once  we  moved  in  column  down  the  Shelby- 
ville  Pike.  The  object  was  then  comprehended  to 
be  a  feint  to  cover  the  passing  of  the  led  stock  and 
wagons.  During  the  halt  here  miles  of  railroad 
track  was  destroyed.  Christiana  is  a  station  on  the 
Chattanooga  Railroad  where  a  ludicrous  little  episode 
transpired  en  passant.  The  pike  was  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  station,  but  in  sight.  A  body  of  blue- 
coats  were  seen  about  the  station,  and  a  small  troop 
was  sent  over  to  take  them  in.  After  approaching 
the  place,  something  like  a  cannon  was  observed  upon 
an  eminence  back  of  the  station,  with  the  gunners 
standing  about  it  ready  to  fire.  The  information  was 
sent  back  to  the  pike,  and  one  of  Lieutenant  White's 
guns  was  brought  down.  About  the  time  it  was 
placed  in  position  to  rake  the  station  half  a  dozen 
white  handkerchiefs  were  flaunted  in  the  air.  We 
went  over  to  receive  the  surrender,  and  the  would- 
be  artillery  was  found  to  be  an  ordinary  stovepipe 
set  on  a  couple  of  wagon  wheels.  There  was  a  set 
of  about  one  hundred  jolly,  well-fed  fellows,  belong 
ing  to  an  Indiana  regiment.  They  were  well  fixed 


42         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

up  and  were  equipped  with  every  paraphernalia  for 
camp  life — in  fact,  they  had  more  plunder  about 
them  than  a  brigade  of  our  army.  Of  this,  what  was 
not  appropriated  was  destroyed,  with  apologies, 
however,  to  our  newly  made  friends,  whom  we 
paroled  and  started  back  toward  Murfreesboro. 
Many  detours  of  this  kind  were  made  from  the  main 
column  during  the  raid,  and  hundreds  of  prisoners 
were  taken  and  much  property  was  destroyed. 

At  Shelbyville  we  expected  to  make  a  fight,  as  it 
was  reported  that  a  considerable  force  of  the  enemy 
was  there  and  were  prepared  for  us.  On  approach 
ing  the  place  the  next  morning,  we  found  they  had 
evacuated  the  town.  Before  leaving  they  had  torn 
down  the  courthouse  on  the  Square,  and  with  the 
debris  blocked  all  the  streets  leading  to  it.  Had 
they  held  their  ground,  certainly  some  blood  would 
have  been  spilled  before  taking  the  place.  We  found 
a  great  many  shops,  sutler's  stores,  etc.,  in  the  town, 
well  supplied  with  goods  of  every  description.  These 
were  owned  by  the  Northern  camp  followers,  who 
failed  to  get  sufficient  warning  for  their  removal. 
Such  plunder  was  considered  as  legitimate  for 
capture  as  a  United  States  mule  or  wagon,  and 
to  many  it  was  much  more  acceptable.  No  South 
ern  sympathizer  would  be  granted  this  privilege. 
Commanding  officers  would  attempt  to  restrain  in  a 
degree,  but  efforts  were  generally  futile ;  and  the  re 
sult  was  that,  after  a  raiding  party  had  left  a  place, 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         43 

not  much  was  left  to  commence  business  on  again. 
Both  armies  pleaded  alike  to  this  charge.  I  noticed 
soldiers  moving  out  of  town  with  their  horses  heav 
ily  laden  with  some  articles  that  you  would  imagine 
were  the  last  things  they  would  have  need  of.  A 
couple  of  ladies  had  come  to  town  that  morning  to 
make  some  purchases.  When  they  saw  what  had 
happened,  they  waved  their  handkerchiefs  and 
cheered  lustily  for  Jeff  Davis.  The  soldiers  gath 
ered  around  them,  filled  their  buggy  full  of  goods, 
and  then  escorted  them  out  of  the  town. 

From  here  the  command  moved  out  near  the  Lew- 
isburg  and  Nashville  Pike  and  went  into  camp.  I 
think  we  remained  there  as  long  as  two  days.  It 
is  said  that  General  Wheeler's  object  was  to  await 
the  return  of  scouting  parties.  We  had  created 
such  a  stir  among  the  enemy  that  they  took  the  time 
to  set  on  our  trail  all  the  forces  that  were  available. 
It  seemed  that  it  should  have  been  the  policy  of  the 
commanding  general  to  have  hastened  our  escape  at 
this  time,  as  the  men,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  were  so  full 
of  plunder  that  fighting  had  gone  out  of  their  minds, 
and  they  were  anxious  to  get  to  a  safe  place  where 
they  could  make  an  inventory  of  their  property. 
However,  we  moved  out  one  morning  toward  Lewis- 
burg.  The  Fourth  Tennessee  and  the  First  Ken 
tucky  Regiments  were  the  rear  guard.  The  first  in 
timation  that  we  had  of  the  presence  of  the  enemy 
was  when  cannon  balls  came  crashing  through  the 


44         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

timber  and  we  could  hear  the  firing  of  our  men  and 
the  enemy  out  on  the  pike,  half  a  mile  off.  We  sent 
Captain  Wyly,  of  the  Fourth  Tennessee,  down  in  that 
direction.  He  returned  in  a  few  moments,  reporting 
that  the  enemy  were  between  us  and  the  remainder  of 
the  command.  Lieut.  Col.  Paul  Anderson  and  Colo 
nel  Chenyworth,  of  the  First  Kentucky,  held  a  hasty 
consultation,  when  it  was  concluded  that  we  would 
cut  our  way  through.  When  this  was  announced,  it 
was  amusing  to  see  the  men  falling  out  of  their 
new  Yankee  uniforms  and  donning  the  faded  gray 
again.  It  was  more  amusing  still,  as  I  think  of  it, 
when  the  gallant  Colonel  Chenyworth  waved  his 
sword  over  his  head  and  took  his  position  in  front 
of  his  regiment,  crying  out  in  a  loud  voice,  ''Follow 
me,  my  brave  Kentuckians !"  as  we  moved  down  a 
blind  pathway  overhung  with  bushes.  The  two  reg 
iments  had  hardly  gotten  straightened  out  when 
bang !  bang !  went  the  enemy's  guns,  seemingly  only 
a  few  paces  distant  in  the  dense  growth.  The  order 
was  given,  "Right  into  line" ;  and  we  moved  through 
the  woods  one  hundred  yards  or  more,  when  we 
could  see  to  our  left  a  narrow  lane  leading  out  to 
the  pike,  and  could  see  our  men  engaged  fighting 
the  enemy.  Then  the  order  was  given,  "Left  into 
column,"  as  we  made  for  the  lane.  Fortunately, 
this  lane  was  old  and  well-worn,  and  the  roadway 
dipped  considerably.  By  drooping  on  their  horses' 
necks,  this,  with  the  fence,  afforded  protection  to  the 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         45 

men  from  the  firing  of  the  enemy,  about  a  hundred 
yards  across  a  little  field.  The  two  regiments  went 
through  with  but  few  casualties,  and  joined  with 
the  remainder  of  the  command  in  the  fight.  When 
I  meet  an  old  comrade  who  was  present,  he  always 
asks:  "Did  you  ever  see  as  much  kindling  wood 
flying  in  the  air  as  at  that  time?"  Here  opened  up 
what  is  well  remembered  as  the  battle  of  Farming- 
ton.  I  wish  I  were  prepared  with  the  data  to  give 
a  correct  account  of  this  fight,  but  I  am  unable  from 
memory  to  give  more  than  the  results.  I  think  both 
sides  lost  about  equally  in  killed  and  wounded — say, 
about  two  hundred  each.  We  fought  for  two  hours, 
when  General  Wheeler  learned  that  a  large  column 
of  the  enemy  both  in  our  rear  and  on  the  right  flank 
was  moving  to  surround  us.  The  Confederates 
quietly  and  without  pursuit  moved  off  down  the  pike 
toward  Lewisburg.  The  enemy  afterwards  picked 
up  and  made  prisoners  about  one  hundred  of  our 
men  who  had  not  joined  the  column  when  the  fight 
took  place.  Among  the  number  of  Confederates 
captured  at  the  battle  of  Farmington  was  the  present 
well-known  and  efficient  Secretary  of  the  State 
Pension  Board,  Capt.  John  P.  Hickman.  He  and 
his  squad  had  been  on  detail  duty,  and  were  endeav 
oring  to  get  to  their  company  when  captured.  He 
was  probably  the  youngest  man  in  his  company. 
He  was  confined  in  Rock  Island  Prison,  and  was  not 
released  until  some  weeks  after  the  surrender  of  the 


46         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

armies.  General  Wharton,  Colonel  Cook,  Major 
Christian,  Captain  Jarmin,  and  Capt.  Polk  Blackburn 
were  among  the  wounded.  Blackburn  was  very 
seriously  wounded,  and  was  thereby  rendered  in 
capable  of  further  service  during  the  war.  He  is 
now  living  at  Lynnville,  Giles  County,  Tenn.,  as  one 
of  the  best-known  and  most  worthy  citizens  of  the 
county.  He  has  represented  that  county  several 
times  in  the  State  Legislature.  The  enemy  ought  to 
have  destroyed  us  at  Farmington.  The  Confeder 
ates  were  flushed  with  booty,  and  the  Federals  were 
smarting  under  their  heavy  losses  in  men  and  ma 
terial. 

We  camped  at  Cornersville  that  night,  along  the 
road.  It  was  quite  cold,  and  the  men  had  to  burn 
(what  the  owner  doubtless  thought  afterwards)  a 
considerable  amount  of  rails.  The  next  day  we 
passed  through  Pulaski.  Here  the  Fourth  Tennes 
see  was  detailed  to  hold  till  sundown  the  bridge  that 
spans  Richland  Creek.  The  remainder  of  the  com 
mand  passed  on  toward  the  ford  at  Bainbridge,  on 
the  Tennessee  River.  We  sat  upon  our  horses  that 
evening  and  watched  for  hours  long  lines  of  Fed 
erals  as  they  came  over  the  hills  into  the  town,  and 
expected  every  moment  for  them  to  open  upon  us. 
We  were  commanded  to  hold  the  bridge  at  all  haz 
ards — in  fact,  to  be  sacrificed,  if  need  be,  for  the 
good  of  the  cause.  All  of  which  would  have  read 
very  heroically  to  the  boys  of  the  fourth  reader  of 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         47 

the  next  generation,  but  it  was  void  of  sentiment  to 
us  as  we  watched  with  supreme  satisfaction  the  god 
of  day  sink  behind  the  western  horizon.  Never  had 
we  seen  so  lovely  a  sunset.  We  ventured  five  min 
utes  longer  at  the  post,  and  then  followed  the  com 
mand.  We  traveled  all  night  and  overtook  the  rear 
guard  a  few  miles  from  the  river  the  next  morning. 
It  consisted  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  a 
remnant  of  Gen.  John  Morgan's  command  after  his 
capture  in  Indiana.  They  were  in  command  of  that 
gallant  soldier  Capt.  J.  D.  Kirkpatrick,  whom  we 
knew  well;  and  to  many  of  the  men  we  expressed 
our  fear  of  their  capture,  as  we  knew  that  the  enemy 
had  been  convinced  of  our  intention  and  were  now 
pressing  us  vigorously  with  a  heavy  force.  We 
passed  on  to  the  river,  which  we  forded  without  in 
terruption,  near  Bainb ridge,  Ala.  Our  conjectures 
about  Captain  Kirkpatrick  proved  too  true,  for  we 
learned  afterwards  from  those  who  escaped  that  the 
enemy  rushed  upon  them  from  every  point  of  the 
compass,  frenzied  that  we  should  escape  so  success 
fully.  About  one-half  of  the  men  were  killed  or 
wounded  and  captured,  not,  however,  without  hav 
ing  inflicted  severe  loss  upon  their  assailants. 

Thus  ended  Wheeler's  celebrated  raid  in  1863, 
commencing  at  the  crossing  of  the  Tennessee  River 
at  Cottonport,  above  Chattanooga,  and  ending  with 
the  crossing  of  the  Tennessee  River  at  Bainbridge, 
Ala. — about  four  weeks'  time  in  passing  from  cross- 


48        Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

ing  to  crossing.  The  result  was  as  follows:  We 
killed,  wounded,  and  captured  of  the  enemy  three 
thousand  men;  burned  and  brought  out  one  thou 
sand  wagons;  captured  thirty-five  hundred  mules 
and  horses,  half  of  which  I  suppose  we  had  to  aban 
don  in  the  fight  at  Farmington.  I  cannot  estimate 
the  loss  of  the  enemy  in  stores  of  clothing,  provi 
sions,  arms  and  ammunition,  the  destruction  of  miles 
of  railroad  tracks,  bridges,  engines,  etc.,  but  it  was 
immense.  Our  own  loss  in  men,  from  all  causes, 
was  eleven  hundred,  which  loss  was  replaced  to  a 
great  extent  by  new  recruits  and  absentees  we 
brought  out  with  us. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
IN  EAST  TENNESSEE. 

WE  remained  a  short  time  in  the  vicinity  of  Bain- 
bridge,  Ala.,  getting  horses  shod,  etc.  Many  soldiers 
who  had  been  cut  off  while  in  Tennessee  crossed  the 
river  at  different  points  and  rejoined  their  command. 
In  rejoining  the  Army  of  Tennessee  we  again  passed 
through  the  field  of  the  battle  of  Chickamauga. 
Though  it  had  been  six  weeks  since  we  had  seen  it, 
much  of  the  ravages  of  the  battle  were  still  to  be 
seen.  I  regret  to  say  that  many  of  the  bodies  of  the 
Federal  soldiers  were  lying  where  they  fell,  but  such 
is  the  state  of  war.  Missionary  Ridge  extended 
from  Rossville  Gap  to  a  point  above  Chattanooga 
where  the  Chickamauga  River  empties  into  the  Ten 
nessee  River,  and  about  four  miles  from  the  city. 
General  Bragg  was  occupying  its  top,  a  distance  of 
four  or  five  miles  in  length,  with  his  thin  line  of 
about  twenty-five  thousand  muskets.  From  its  sum 
mit  the  immense  army  of  General  Grant  could  be 
seen  in  the  vicinity  of  Chattanooga.  It  was  naturally 
a  very  strong  position,  and  no  army  near  the  number 
of  the  Confederates  could  have  driven  them  from  it. 

The  Fourth  Tennessee  was  ordered  from  here  to 
Trenton,  Ga.,  for  the  purpose  of  picketing  the  gaps 
in  Lookout  Mountain,  notably  at  Johnson's  Crook 
4 


50         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

and  other  places  some  twenty  miles  from  Chatta 
nooga  and  on  the  extreme  left.  I  suppose  they  were 
sent  out  there  from  the  fact  that  a  good  many  mem 
bers  of  Company  H  lived  at  Bridgeport,  Ala.,  and 
were  familiar  with  the  country  and  railroad  track 
from  there  to  Chattanooga.  These  same  men  had 
been  detailed  by  order  of  General  Bragg,  and  had 
given  him  important  information  preceding  the  bat 
tle  of  Chickamauga.  They  had  been  highly  compli 
mented  by  General  Bragg  on  their  scouts  and  the 
information  they  had  given  him.  On  reaching 
Trenton,  Lieut.  Col.  Paul  F.  Anderson  availed  him 
self  of  the  first  opportunity  he  had  had  of  making 
his  report  to  brigade  headquarters  of  the  action  the 
regiment  had  taken  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga. 
The  same  appears  in  the  war  records  published  by 
the  United  States  government  after  the  war.  When 
Richmond  fell  the  Federals  captured  many  of  the 
records  of  the  Confederate  government  that  were 
on  file  at  the  Capitol.  We  have  copied  it  verbatim : 

HEADQUARTERS  FOURTH  TENNESSEE  CAVALRY  REGIMENT, 
In  Field,  Trenton,  Ga.,  October  30,  1863. 

Capt.  W.  B.  Sayers,  Adjutant  General  Harrison's  Brigade,  Wharton's  Divi 
sion,  Wheeler's  Corps. 

Sir:  The  report  of  the  action  taken  by  this  regiment  in  the 
battle  of  Chickamauga  has  been  delayed  by  reason  of  the  fact 
that  immediately  after  the  battle  we  were  ordered  to  Middle 
Tennessee  with  the  balance  of  Wheeler's  Corps  and  did  not 
return  from  that  most  eventful  raid  until  a  few  days  ago.  On 
or  about  the  loth  of  September,  1863,  we  received  while  at 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         51 

Rome,  Ga.,  marching  orders  from  the  commanding  general, 
and  reported  to  him  near  La  Fayette,  Ga.,  where  our  infantry 
were  being  mobilized.  A  corps  of  the  enemy  had  crossed  the 
Tennessee  River  at  Bridgeport,  Ala.,  and,  crossing  Sand 
Mountain,  marched  toward  Rome.  We  were  sent  to  the 
front,  and  were  engaged  in  daily  skirmishing  till  the  battle 
occurred.  On  the  I5th  of  September,  in  conjunction  with 
Gen.  Ben  Harden  Helm's  brigade  of  infantry,  at  Tryon  Fac 
tory,  on  the  Rome  Road,  we  had  quite  a  brush  with  the  enemy, 
driving  them  off;  also  at  Catlett's  Gap,  Bluebird  Gap,  Mc- 
Lemore's  Cove,  and  other  places,  driving  them  toward  Chatta 
nooga  to  the  right  wing  of  Rosecrans's  army.  On  Saturday 
evening,  September  19,  Wharton's  division  of  cavalry  relieved 
Gen.  John  C.  Breckenridge's  infantry  division  at  Glass's  Mill, 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  Chickamauga  River.  He  had  had  a 
heavy  fight  there  that  evening  with  General  Negley's  Federal 
division,  and  still  farther  to  the  right  there  had  been  heavy 
fighting.  We  remained  in  this  position  during  the  night, 
ascertaining  that  about  the  time  Breckenridge  was  moved 
to  the  right  Negley's  infantry  had  moved  to  the  Federal 
left,  Gen.  George  Crook's  cavalry  taking  Negley's  position 
at  Glass's  Mill.  At  an  early  hour  on  Sunday  morning, 
September  20,  the  skirmishers  from  both  armies  faced  each 
other  along  the  banks  of  the  Chickamauga.  About  eleven 
o'clock  the  enemy  planted  a  battery  upon  an  eminence  half 
a  mile  distant  and  commenced  vigorously  to  shell  us.  At  this 
time  the  battle  to  our  right  was  raging  with  desperate  fury 
along  the  whole  line,  and  seemed  to  be  a  succession  of  infantry 
charges  upon  batteries  in  chosen  position.  You  would  first 
hear  the  rapid  discharges  of  the  guns,  indicating  that  their 
position  was  threatened.  Then  would  come  the  crash  of 
musketry,  as  if  every  tree  in  the  forest  had  fallen,  and,  high 
above  all  this,  the  shouts  of  the  Confederates.  WTe  could  tell 
unmistakably  that  we  were  driving  them.  It  was  twelve 
o'clock  in  the  day,  we  suppose,  when  General  Wharton  ordered 
the  brigade  to  dismount  and  take  the  battery  that  was  shelling 
us  from  across  the  Chickamauga.  The  brigade  consisted  of 


52         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

the  Eighth  and  Eleventh  Texas,  the  First  Kentucky,  and  the 
Fourth  Tennessee,  Col.  Thomas  Harrison  commanding.  The 
Eighth  Texas  remained  mounted,  while  the  other  regiments 
counted  off  (No.  4  being  directed  to  hold  the  horses)  and 
formed  line  in  infantry  style.  We  forded  the  river  at  the  mill, 
formed  line  in  the  edge  of  a  low  beech  wood,  placed  our  skir 
mishers  in  front,  and  advanced  through  the  woods.  The  enemy 
knew  we  were  coming,  and  kept  shelling  the  woods.  Some  of 
our  men  were  injured  by  the  limbs  of  trees  torn  off  by  cannon 
balls.  We  had  advanced  but  a  short  distance  before  the  skir 
mishers  became  hotly  engaged,  which  was  the  signal  for  a 
rapid  advance,  and  we  swept  through  the  woods,  driving  the 
enemy  before  us.  They  rallied  at  a  fence  at  the  outer  edge 
of  the  woods.  After  delivering  an  effective  volley  at  us,  they 
fell  back  rapidly  across  a  small  field  to  the  position  of  their 
battery  on  the  hill.  As  we  emerged  from  the  woods,  this 
battery,  shotted  with  grape  and  the  support  armed  with  seven- 
shooting  Spencer  rifles,  opened  upon  us.  We  were  commanded 
to  lie  down,  which  we  did  for  a  moment,  then  arose  and 
charged  across  the  field.  The  battery  limbered  up  and  dis 
appeared.  We  killed  many  of  the  enemy  as  they  ran  off. 
About  two  hundred  surrendered  in  a  body.  We  pursued  for 
some  distance  till  we  came  in  sight  of  Crawfish  Springs,  and 
were  the  first  to  reach  that  place,  where  we  captured  an  im 
mense  host.  Besides  their  killed  and  wounded,  the  enemy  lost 
a  large  number  of  wagons,  hospital  attendants,  and  many 
shirkers  from  the  fight.  When  we  first  came  in  sight,  we  sup 
posed  that  the  whole  army  had  surrendered  to  us,  so  large 
was  the  crowd  that  met  our  sight.  Our  loss  was  considerable. 
The  line  of  attack  for  a  mile  or  more  was  well  defined  with 
the  killed  and  wounded,  and  where  a  stand  was  made  they 
lay  thick  upon  the  ground.  This  was  our  first  experience 
with  the  seven-shooting  Spencer  rifle.  We  armed  two  of  our 
companies  from  the  captures.  We  do  not  think  the  enemy's 
loss  in  killed  or  wounded  exceeded  our  own.  However,  we 
captured  several  hundred  prisoners  on  the  field.  Among  the 
killed  was  Capt.  J.  J.  Partin,  of  Company  L.  Lieutenants 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.         53 

Barbee,  Corbett,  Preston,  Scruggs,  and  McLean  were  among 
the  wounded.  The  regiment's  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was 
forty-five,  the  details  of  which  from  the  company  officers  ac 
companies  this  report. 

After  the  capture  of  Crawfish  Springs,  we  left  a  guard 
there.  Being  ordered  to  our  horses,  we  mounted  and  moved 
rapidly  to  Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill,  where  we  crossed  the  bridge 
and,  charging  down  the  road,  captured  a  long  line  of  prisoners, 
wagons,  ambulances,  etc.  We  bivouacked  upon  the  field  of  bat 
tle  Sunday  night,  and  at  an  early  hour  on  Monday  morning  the 
regiment  was  ordered  to  report  to  General  Longstreet,  which 
we  did.  He  ordered  us  forward  toward  Chattanooga,  and  all 
day  long  we  were  sending  him  couriers,  telling  him  that  the 
enemy  had  retreated  into  Chattanooga,  leaving  behind  every 
evidence  of  a  complete  rout  and  defeat.  We  secured  many 
prisoners  and  much  abandoned  property.  On  Tuesday,  Sep 
tember  22,  with  the  balance  of  Wheeler's  cavalry,  we  skir 
mished  with  the  enemy  up  to  the  line  of  the  corporate  limits 
of  Chattanooga.  We  captured  the  signal  flag  of  the  enemy  on 
the  point  of  Lookout  Mountain.  The  officer  worked  his  ma 
chine  until  hands  were  laid  upon  him.  This  ended  the  battle 
of  Chickamauga,  and  we  left  the  field  on  Wednesday,  the  23d, 
with  the  balance  of  Wheeler's  cavalry  on  the  raid  into  Middle 
Tennessee. 

Permit  me  to  say  that  I  never  found  my  regiment  in  better 
fighting  trim.  From  the  highest  ranking  officer  to  the  humblest 
private  they  seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  in  the  performance 
of  a  soldier's  duty.  Where  all  demeaned  themselves  with  such 
soldierly  fidelity  it  would  be  invidious  to  make  individual 
mention,  but  I  must  be  permitted  to  mention  the  following : 
Surgeon  W.  T.  Delaney,  who  was  often  in  the  thickest  of  the 
battle  caring  for  the  dead  and  wounded,  and  his  assistant,  Dr. 
T.  A.  Allen.  Captain  Grissim,  Quartermaster,  and  Capt.  R.  O. 
McLean,  Commissary,  both  rendered  efficient  service  upon  the 
field  and  in  attending  to  the  wants  of  the  men.  I  would  like 
to  mention  acts  of  individual  courage  of  men  and  officers,  but 


54         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

time   forbids.     A  grateful   country  will  remember  them  and 
embalm  their  names  as  heroes  worthy  of  honor  and  distinction. 

I  am  respectfully,  PAUL  F.  ANDERSON, 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Commanding  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry. 

GEORGE  B.  GUILD, 

Adjutant. 

The  Regiment  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  Tren 
ton,  and  were  not  ordered  back  to  the  main  army 
till  after  the  battles  of  Lookout  Mountain,  Orchard 
Knob,  and  Missionary  Ridge  had  been  fought,  in 
cluding  the  battle  of  Ringgold,  which  occurred  suc 
cessively  from  the  23d  to  the  27th  of  November, 
1863. 

Gen.  Joe  Hooker's  Corps  bravely  led  the  assault 
up  Lookout  Mountain.  They  were  gallantly  resisted 
by  General  Walthall's  brave  little  brigade  of  less  than 
one  thousand  Confederates.  General  Hooker's  men 
reached  the  Cravens  house,  which  stands  there  still, 
and  is,  I  suppose,  three-fourths  of  the  distance 
from  the  base  and  one-half  the  altitude  of  the  moun 
tain.  Some  distance  from  there  the  palisades  of 
solid  rock  rise  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  a  dis 
tance  of  several  hundred  feet,  very  precipitately. 
The  enemy  halted  at  the  Cravens  house  for  the 
night.  The  next  morning,  everything  appearing  to 
be  so  quiet,  a  call  was  made  for  volunteers  to  go  up 
and  view  the  situation.  A  captain  and  twelve  men 
from  a  Kentucky  regiment  went  up  and  reported  the 
fact  that  a  citizen  had  informed  them  that  "they  had 
left  the  night  before."  This  ended  the  "Battle  above 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         55 

the  Clouds."  Lookout  Mountain  and  Orchard  Knob 
were  both  outposts  of  the  army  on  Missionary  Ridge, 
with  small  commands  at  each. 

The  Confederates  were  driven  from  Orchard 
Knob  the  next  day,  and  on  the  third  day  General 
Grant  assaulted  Missionary  Ridge  with  his  whole 
army,  attacking  the  entire  line  of  General  Bragg. 
At  some  points  the  line  held  out  bravely,  repulsing 
every  assault,  and  were  about  to  conclude  that  they 
had  successfully  repulsed  General  Grant's  large  army. 
But  at  last  he  penetrated  the  left  of  General  Bragg's 
line,  pouring  in  in  large  force  and,  taking  the  line 
in  reverse,  drove  the  Confederates  in  rout  and  con 
fusion  from  the  summit,  capturing  a  large  number 
of  prisoners,  many  of  whom,  we  regret  to  say,  aban 
doned  their  colors  by  voluntarily  surrendering  to  the 
enemy.  No  pursuit  was  made;  if  there  had  been, 
one-half  of  General  Bragg's  force  would  have  been 
captured.  At  a  favorable  position  near  Ringgold, 
Ga.,  Gen.  Pat  Cleburne  placed  his  division  and  ar 
tillery  to  await  the  coming  of  the  enemy.  He  killed 
and  wounded  twenty-five  hundred  of  them,  with 
comparatively  little  loss  of  his  own.  The  enemy 
withdrew  and  did  not  attempt  to  come  any  farther. 
The  Confederates  fell  back  to  Dalton,  Ga.,  and 
Wheeler's  Cavalry  Corps  were  left  on  outpost  duty 
at  Tunnel  Hill,  about  seven  miles  north  of  Dalton. 

On  the  point  of  Lookout  Mountain,  near  the  mag 
nificent  monument  erected  by  the  State  of  New  York, 


56         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

are  quite  a  number  of  tablets  which  were  agreed  upon 
and  placed  there  by  a  joint  committee  of  ex-Federal 
and  ex-Confederate  soldiers,  with  the  following  in 
scription  upon  their  faces : 

In  the  battle  of  Chattanooga,  from  November 
23  to  November  27,  1863,  which  includes  Orchard 
Knob,  Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  and 
Ringgold  Gap,  Ga.,  it  is  authoritatively  written 
that  the  Confederates  had  eight  divisions  and  the 
Federals  thirteen. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Confederate  divi 
sions  were  much  smaller  than  the  Federals'.  The 
enemy  had  been  recruited  to  the  highest  point,  while 
the  Confederates  from  long  service  had  but  little  to 
draw  upon  and  were  very  small.  The  Confederates 
in  these  four  battles,  from  November  23  to  Novem 
ber  27,  lost  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing  6,667; 
the  Federal  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  alone  was 
5,824.  The  Confederates  missing  were  4,146;  the 
Federals,  comparatively  nothing.  We  know  the  fact 
that  nearly  all  the  missing  from  the  Confederate 
ranks  were  men  who  voluntarily  left  their  ranks  in 
the  rout  at  Missionary  Ridge.  The  loss  of  the  two 
armies  in  killed  and  wounded,  then,  was  as  follows : 
Federals,  5,824;  Confederates,  2,521.  The  Federal 
loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  more  than  double 
that  of  the  Confederates  in  the  four  engagements. 


CHAPTER  V. 
CAMPAIGNING  IN  GEORGIA. 

AFTER  the  Army  of  Tennessee  had  become  settled 
in  their  winter  quarters  at  Dalton,  Ga.,  in  December, 
1863,  criticism  of  General  Bragg  became  hot  and 
severe  both  on  the  part  of  the  soldiers  and  the  citi 
zens,  and  a  change  of  commander  was  demanded  of 
the  government;  so  much  so  that  General  Bragg 
tendered  his  resignation,  and  General  Joseph  E. 
Johnston  was  appointed  in  his  stead. 

General  Braxton  Bragg  was  seemingly  a  cold, 
austere  officer  and  a  thorough  disciplinarian,  but 
no  one  ever  doubted  his  bravery  and  patriotism. 
The  greatest  battles  fought  by  the  Army  of  Ten 
nessee  were  fought  while  he  was  commander  in  chief. 
His  plans  and  orders  for  battle  could  not  be  excelled 
in  their  clocklike  accuracy.  Every  soldier  knew 
that  when  Bragg  got  ready  to  fight  it  was  to  be  a 
real  fight,  and  some  one  was  sure  to  be  hurt  be 
fore  it  was  over.  He  was  particularly  unfortunate 
in  the  failure  of  his  officers  in  obeying  important 
orders.  He  died  without  giving  to  the  public  a  his 
tory  of  his  campaigns,  as  other  generals  have  done. 
But  we  must  add  that  Bragg  seemed  to  lose  his 
head  at  the  supreme  moment  after  gaining  a  battle 
and  let  its  fruits  slip  out  of  his  grasp  when  he  could 
have  accomplished  decisive  results,  as  was  the  case 


58         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

at  Murfreesboro  and  Chickamauga.  He  was  a  great 
favorite  with  President  Davis,  and  was  given  a  posi 
tion  in  the  War  Department  at  Richmond.  Just 
before  the  war  closed  he  was  placed  in  the  field  again. 
He  fought  a  battle  at  Kingston,  N.  C.,  defeating 
General  Cox  and  capturing  fifteen  hundred  prisoners 
and  some  field  artillery.  Let  us  forget  his  faults  and 
remember  with  pride  his  valor  as  a  soldier  and  his 
patriotism  to  his  native  Southland. 

Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston's  appointment  to  the  chief 
command  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee  was  received 
with  much  satisfaction  by  the  soldiers.  The  morale 
of  the  army  had  depreciated  after  the  battle  of 
Chickamauga,  and  especially  after  the  disastrous  rout 
at  Missionary  Ridge.  The  transportation  facilities 
of  the  army — horses,  mules,  wagons,  etc. — were  in 
bad  condition.  The  ranks  had  greatly  diminished  in 
numbers,  and  there  was  no  expectation  of  their  being 
recruited  except  from  conscript  camps  and  the  return 
of  absentees.  The  Confederate  armies  at  Gettysburg 
and  Chickamauga  on  the  two  occasions  had  reached 
the  zenith  of  their  strength  and  enthusiasm.  General 
Johnston,  upon  assuming  command,  soon  exhibited 
his  great  ability  as  an  organizer,  in  which  he  had  no 
superior ;  and  it  was  but  a  little  while  till  all  of  his 
departments  put  on  a  cheery  appearance,  and,  what 
is  better,  the  morale  of  his  soldiers  showed  confi 
dence  and  enthusiasm  again.  Men  and  horses  were 
well  supplied  with  good,  substantial  rations — not 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         59 

dainty  food,  for  it  could  not  be  had.  Drills  of  men 
and  officers  were  held  daily,  and  dress  parades  were 
the  order  of  the  day.  He  showed,  too,  that  he  was 
in  every  sense  a  thorough  disciplinarian.  We 
thought  General  Bragg  was  well  up  in  the  service  in 
this  regard,  but  General  Johnston  far  excelled  him. 
In  the  maximum  punishment  meted  out  to  deserters 
judge  advocates  were  kept  busy.  We  remember  on 
one  occasion  to  have  met  Col.  Andrew  Ewing  in  the 
road  near  Tunnel  Hill.  While  we  were  talking  a 
volley  of  musketry  was  heard  from  the  direction  of 
the  infantry  encampment  at  Dalton,  when  he  re 
marked  that  the  volley  had  killed  twelve  deserters. 
Colonel  Ewing  was  a  distinguished  lawyer,  whose 
home  was  at  Nashville,  and  was  then  Judge-Advo 
cate-General  of  the  army.  Notwithstanding  this, 
General  Johnston  was  popular  with  the  soldiers  and 
had  their  fullest  confidence. 

General  Wheeler's  headquarters  were  at  Tunnel 
Hill,  some  seven  miles  from  Ualton.  His  cavalry 
were  kept  busy  all  winter  in  scouting  and  fighting 
back  the  enemy.  Some  of  his  encounters  approached 
the  dignity  of  a  battle,  in  which  he  lost  in  killed  and 
wounded  a  good  many  men  and  inflicted  a  like  loss 
upon  the  enemy.  The  country  surrounding  Tunnel 
Hill  and  Dalton  was  thin,  mountainous  land  and 
very  poor  in  production  and  sparse  in  population. 
The  subsistence  of  the  army  had  to  be  brought  there 
by  railway.  The  soldiers  always  say  that  they  went 


60         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

hungry  longer  there  than  at  any  other  encampment 
during  the  war.  However,  I  don't  think  any  one 
really  suffered. 

General  Sherman  did  not  begin  his  march  on  At 
lanta  till  the  ist  of  May,  1864.  (See  Appendix,  C.) 
His  army  was  more  than  double  in  number  that  of 
General  Johnston,  and  he  had  all  the  reserves  he 
could  ask  for,  which  he  received  time  and  time 
again  before  reaching  Atlanta,  General  Johnston 
had  no  accessions  but,  as  has  been  stated,  from 
conscript  camps  and  absentees,  except  the  brigade  of 
General  Quarles,  from  Mobile,  and  probably  some 
few  small  detachments  of  infantry  and  cavalry  from 
other  points  in  the  South  that  joined  during  the 
march  to  Atlanta. 

The  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  happened  to  be 
holding  the  advance  station  in  front  of  Tunnel  Hill 
and  on  a  direct  line  to  Chattanooga  when  Sherman 
commenced  his  march,  giving  and  receiving  the  first 
shots  that  were  fired.  The  cavalry  contested  every 
foot  of  ground  to  the  vicinity  of  Dalto-n,  having 
quite  a  battle  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  It  was 
ascertained  from  scouts  that  Sherman,  about  the 
time  he  began  his  advance  on  Tunnel  Hill,  had  sent 
a  large  column  of  his  army  to  the  right  to  flank 
Dalton.  General  Johnston  had  anticipated  this 
movement,  and  had  a  strong  line  of  works  at  Resaca, 
about  fourteen  miles  below,  to  which  he  hastened 
with  his  little  army.  Thus  Sherman  began  what 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.         61 

his  large  force  enabled  him  to  do:  while  he  would 
attack  in  front  writh  a  formidable  force,  he  would 
use  as  large  a  one  for  flanking  purposes  against 
his  enemy's  rear.  When  Sherman  came  up,  a 
heavy  battle  took  place  at  Resaca,  lasting  two  days, 
and  in  which  both  sides  lost  a  large  number  in  killed 
and  wounded.  It  was  here  that  Col.  S.  S.  Stanton, 
of  the  Tennessee  infantry,  was  killed.  It  is  not  de 
signed  in  this  brief  narrative  to  undertake  to  describe 
specifically  these  battles,  and  the  reader  can  consult 
the  battle  reports.  Among  others,  see  the  history 
that  General  Johnston  has  contributed  of  his  cam 
paigns  to  the  Southern  war  lore.  We  know,  how 
ever,  that  Sherman's  losses  at  Resaca  were  heavier 
than  the  Confederates' ;  for  we  fought  behind  breast 
works  most  of  the  time,  which  protected  us  to  some 
extent.  About  the  second  or  third  day  at  Resaca, 
Johnston  was  forced  to  fall  back  to  Kingston  (or 
Calhoun),  where  the  Federals  were  crossing  the 
river.  In  fact,  the  Atlanta  campaign  of  Sherman 
was  a  series  of  flank  movements  upon  General  John 
ston's  army.  He  would  approach  his  front  with  a 
large  army  and  send  a  like  column  to  the  rear  to 
break  his  communications.  The  Federal  army  was 
driven  off  at  Kingston.  The  next  halt  of  Johnston's 
was  near  Cassville,  Ga.,  where  he  issued  his  well- 
remembered  battle  order  to  the  effect  that  "we  would 
now  turn  upon  the  enemy  and  give  battle."  This 
order,  as  it  was  read  to  the  different  commands,  was 


62         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

received  with  the  wildest  enthusiasm.  The  bright 
reflection  from  the  long  lines  o<f  the  enemy's  guns 
across  the  open  space  was  an  inspiration  for  the 
troops  to  move  upon  them  at  once.  Some  delay 
ensued,  when  General  Johnston  was  informed  by  a 
staff  officer  from  General  Hood  that  the  enemy  could 
enfilade  his  lines,  and  that  he  would  not  be  able  to 
hold  it.  This  from  one  of  his  highest  ranking  offi 
cers  caused  him  to  countermand  the  order,  to  the 
great  dissatisfaction  of  the  troops.  That  night 
Johnston  retired,  and  it  was  not  surprising  that  some 
soldiers  dropped  out  of  line,  to  be  picked  up  by  the 
enemy. 

About  Allatoona  we  had  some  fighting,  participat 
ed  in  by  detachments  of  the  army.  From  here  Gen 
eral  Wheeler  was  sent  back  across  the  river  to  protect 
and  drive  off  a  force  that  was  destroying  some  large 
manufacturing  establishments.  In  the  fight  that 
ensued  he  killed  and  wounded  quite  a  number  of  the 
enemy  and  destroyed  some  two  hundred  wagons. 
We  had  some  more  heavy  skirmishing  with  the  en 
emy  at  Allatoona;  then  we  were  hastened  to  New 
Hope,  some  distance  to  the  right  rear,  to  meet  the 
enemy.  On  arriving  there,  the  Fourth  Tennessee,  in 
conjunction  with  a  brigade  of  A.  P.  Stewart's  in 
fantry,  had  a  hard  fight,  but  finally  drove  the  enemy 
back.  The  regiment  had  quite  a  number  of  killed 
and  wounded.  That  evening  General  Stewart  built 
some  temporary  breastworks.  At  night  (about  ten 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  'Regiment.         63 

o'clock,  I  suppose)  a  large  force  of  the  enemy  at 
tacked  Stewart's  works,  but  were  repulsed  with 
heavy  loss.  It  is  stated  that  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
soldiers  were  found  dead  in  front  of  General  Gran- 
berry's  line,  and  that  many  of  the  Federal  attacking 
column  were  in  an  intoxicated  condition  and  actually 
staggered  over  the  works  when  they  were  captured. 
At  another  time  General  Bate's  division  made  an 
attack  upon  the  enemy  protected  by  breastworks,  but 
was  repulsed  with  heavy  loss.  There  was  hard  fight 
ing  on  other  portions  of  the  line  during  our  three  or 
four  days  of  battle  at  New  Hope  Church,  but  no 
general  engagement  of  the  army  took  place. 

We  left  there  on  a  dark,  rainy  night,  going  to  Ma 
rietta.  The  infantry  had  preceded  us,  leaving  the 
cavalry  in  the  ditches;  later  we  followed,  leaving 
about  ten  o'clock  at  night.  It  had  been  raining,  and 
the  road  which  the  infantry  had  passed  over  was  left 
much  torn  up.  I  remember  that  a  cavalryman  just 
ahead  of  us  went  down  in  a  mudhole,  horse  and 
rider;  and  as  he  scrambled  to  his  feet  again,  he  cried 
out  to  the  amusement  of  the  boys:  "Be  aisy,  men; 
old  Joe  will  get  them  yet."  This  was  the  most  com 
forting  expression  we  heard  during  the  long,  dark 
ride  through  the  slush  and  mud. 

General  Johnston  fell  back  to  Kennesaw  Mountain, 
and  the  enemy,  coming  up,  assaulted  the  position  with 
a  large  force.  "Fighting  Joe"  Hooker  again  led  the 
attacking  force  of  the  enemy.  Gen.  Frank  Cheat- 


64         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

ham's  division  held  the  center  of  the  Confederate 
line,  where  the  most  desperate  part  of  the  fighting 
took  place,  though  other  portions  were  hotly  engaged. 
It  was  a  brave  attack  made  by  the  enemy.  Some  of 
them  came  up  to  the  works,  and  many  of  them  were 
killed  near  our  line.  The  battle  lasted  several  hours 
before  the  enemy  were  repulsed.  The  next  day 
Sherman  asked  an  armistice  to  bury  his  dead,  which 
was  granted.  General  Johnston  in  his  report  of  the 
battle  says  that  "the  Federal  loss  was  4,000  or 
5,000.  More  of  Sherman's  best  soldiers  lay  dead 
and  wounded  than  the  number  of  British  veterans 
that  fell  in  General  Jackson's  celebrated  battle  at 
New  Orleans." 

In  the  vicinity  of  Kennesaw  stands  Lone,  or  Pine, 
Mountain,  somewhat  isolated  and  standing  to  itself. 
Lieutenant  General  Polk  had  occupied  its  base  with 
a  force  in  temporary  breastworks — to  wit,  with  Gen 
eral  Bate's  division.  He  had  gone  over  with  his  staff 
to  make  observations  of  the  enemy,  as  it  afforded  a 
fine  view  of  the  surrounding  country.  The  position 
of  his  infantry  was  a  constant  target  for  the  enemy's 
largest  guns.  On  reaching  the  summit,  Polk  and  his 
staff  dismounted  and,  walking  out  to  the  front,  were 
plainly  seen  by  the  gunners,  who  immediately  com 
menced  a  furious  cannonade,  and  about  the  first  shot 
killed  General  Polk.  His  death  was  greatly  lament 
ed  by  the  whole  army.  He  was  educated  at  West 
Point,  but  had  retired  from  the  army  to  become  a 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         65 

minister  of  the  gospel ;  and  when  he  enlisted  in  the 
Confederate  army  he  was  a  bishop  in  the  Episcopal 
Church.  Since  the  beginning  of  the  war  he  had 
served  most  gallantly  in  the  Confederate  army  as  a 
general  in  the  Army  of  Tennessee.  He  had  taken 
a  conspicuous  part  in  all  of  its  campaigns  and  bat 
tles.  Gen.  A.  P.  Stewart  was  made  lieutenant  gen 
eral  in  his  place,  Lieutenant  General  Hardee  having 
before  this  been  transferred  to  another  department. 
John  B.  Hood  and  A.  P.  Stewart  became  lieutenant 
generals  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee. 

Several  hot  contests  were  had  with  the  enemy  K 
the  neighborhood  of  Marietta,  amounting  frequently 
to  the  dignity  of  a  battle.  In  some  of  these  we  re 
member  that  Col.  Ed  Cook,  of  the  Thirty-Second 
Tennessee,  Colonel  Walker,  of  the  Third  Tennessee, 
and  his  adjutant,  John  Douglas,  were  among  the 
number  killed. 

Marietta,  Ga.,  is  a  distance  of  some  twenty  miles 
from  Atlanta,  the  Chattahoochee  River  intervening 
eight  or  ten  miles  from  the  latter  city.  Its  banks 
are  low  and  approachable,  and  the  river  is  ford- 
able  in  many  places.  Further  than  the  usual  can 
nonading  and  skirmishing  of  the  two  armies, 
nothing  of  interest  occurred  until  General  Johnston 
reached  Atlanta.  General  Johnston  fought  battles 
out  at  Peachtree  Creek  and  perhaps  at  other 
places.  In  one  of  these  Colonel  Walker,  of  the  Nine 
teenth  Tennessee  Infantry,  was  killed.  He  was  the 
5 


66         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

father  of  Laps  Walker,  the  well-known  and  able 
editor  of  the  Chattanooga  Times.  Colonel  Walker 
was  in  command  of  the  brigade  when  killed.  It  was 
well  known  in  the  army  at  this  time  that  General 
Johnston  was  making  ready  to  attack  Sherman  by 
placing  the  militia  under  command  of  General  Smith 
in  the  forts  and  fortifications  around  Atlanta,  and 
then  moving  with  his  entire  army  to  the  flank  of 
Sherman,  to  defeat  him  and  destroy  his  army  before 
they  could  reach  their  base  at  Chattanooga.  The 
army  was  in  high  spirits  in  anticipation  of  this  move 
ment.  Instead  of  being  dispirited  by  the  long  retro 
grade  movements,  their  confidence  had  increased, 
and  they  were  ready  to  obey  his  every  order  with 
supreme  confidence  in  its  success. 

At  this  time  President  Davis  visited  the  army  at 
Atlanta,  and  in  a  few  days  General  Johnston  was 
relieved  of  the  command  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee 
and  Lieut.  Gen.  J.  B.  Hood  named  as  his  successor. 
It  is  said  that  another  had  been  asked  to  take  the 
command,  but  had  declined,  saying  that  the  army 
had  the  supremest  confidence  in  General  Johnston. 
I  repeat  what  was  reported  and  generally  believed. 
Nothing  could  have  overwhelmed  both  soldiers  and 
citizens  with  more  surprise  than  this  order.  Soldiers 
were  speechless,  shaking  their  heads  in  answer  to 
questions,  as  much  as  to  say  that  a  great  mistake  had 
been  made,  predicting  the  most  direful  results,  which 
were  proved  in  so  brief  a  time  afterwards.  I  re- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         67 

member  having  heard  an  able  address  since  the  war 
from  that  highly  intellectual  Christian  gentleman  and 
splendid  soldier,  Lieut.  Gen.  A.  P.  Stewart,  upon  this 
subject.  His  position  in  the  army  and  in  its  councils 
enabled  him  to  speak  advisedly  and  in  stronger  and 
more  convincing  words  than  I  have  used. 

The  distance  from  Dalton  to  Atlanta  is  about 
seventy-five  miles.  The  contending  armies  were 
seventy  days  in  covering  the  distance — a  little  more 
than  a  mile  a  day.  It  was  a  great  battle  scene  from 
its  beginning  to  its  close.  At  night  the  camp  fires 
of  the  two  armies  were  visible  one  from  the  other. 
A  number  of  large  battles  were  fought,  and  many 
were  killed  and  wounded  on  both  sides.  The  day 
time  was  an  incessant  crash  of  musketry  from  the 
skirmishers  and  heavy  cannonading  from  batteries. 
In  fact,  from  the  number  of  killed  and  wounded  in 
many  of  these  skirmishes,  they  would  be  called  bat 
tles  at  the  present  time.  There  was  no  evidence  of 
rout  or  hasty  retreat  on  the  part  of  the  Confederates 
along  the  way,  not  even  the  waste  of  a  peck  of  corn 
meal. 

I  notice  the  statement  made  in  a  magazine  re 
cently  that  in  looking  over  the  private  papers  of  Mr. 
Davis  there  was  found  a  correspondence  between 
him  and  his  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Benjamin,  when 
the  following  reasons  were  assigned  for  the  dismissal 
of  General  Johnston:  "That  he  had  failed  to  give 
battle  to  the  enemy  at  the  many  available  positions 


68         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

passed  from  Dalton  to  Atlanta,  and  that  he  now  pro 
posed  to  move  upon  the  enemy  with  his  entire  army, 
leaving  the  State  militia  to  hold  the  works  at  Atlan 
ta."  It  has  been  said,  and  General  Johnston  repeats 
it  in  his  book  styled  "Johnston's  Narrative  of  His 
Campaigns,"  that  "his  loss  from  Dalton  to  Atlanta 
was  ten  thousand,  while  that  of  the  enemy  was  equal 
to  the  number  of  the  soldiers  then  in  his  army."  I 
take  this  to  mean  at  least  thirty-five  thousand.  Sher 
man  was  enabled  to  keep  his  army  up  to  its  original 
strength  by  troops  sent  him  from  time  to  time  during 
the  campaign.  The  Confederates  had  none  except 
those  I  have  mentioned  before.  General  Hood  in 
taking  command  issued  a  battle  order,  and  in  ten 
days'  time  is  said  to  have  lost  as  many  men  as  John 
ston  had  during  the  campaign. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

GENERAL  WHEELER'S  CAPTURE  OF  THE  COMMANDS 
OF  GENERALS  McCooK  AND  STONEMAN. 

ON  the  27th  of  July,  1864,  General  Hood  ordered 
Wheeler's  cavalry  to  the  rear  of  Atlanta  with  a  view 
of  beating  off  a  Federal  raid  commanded  by  Generals 
McCook  and  Stoneman,  having  for  its  purpose  the 
breaking  up  of  Southern  communications,  releasing 
the  large  army  of  Federal  prisoners  at  Andersonville, 
destroying  manufactories,  etc.  Before  leaving  At 
lanta  General  Wheeler  divided  his  cavalry  of  about 
five  thousand  into  two  columns,  Generals  Dibrell  and 
Iverson  going  to  the  left  after  General  Stoneman, 
and  assuming  in  person  the  command  of  the  column 
to  the  right  sent  after  General  McCook.  Wheeler 
came  up  with  McCook  at  Jonesboro,  thirty  miles 
below  Atlanta,  where  his  troops  were  engaged  in 
destroying  the  railroad  tracks.  The  Confederates 
at  once  charged  them.  After  a  short  but  spirited 
fight,  they  drove  them  off  with  some  loss  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners.  McCook  retreated  to 
ward  Newnan,  Ga.  He  was  hotly  pursued  all  night 
long.  At  a  bridge,  just  at  daylight,  we  came  up 
with  a  large  picket  of  the  enemy.  We  at  once 
charged  them  and  drove  them  off.  The  entire  com 
mand  hastened  over  the  bridge  and  in  a  little  while 


/o         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

came  up  with  the  enemy.    A  battle  ensued  in  which 
there  was  a  considerable  loss  on  both  sides. 

After  a  little  while  the  enemy  resumed  their  re 
treat  toward  Newnan,  hotly  pursued  by  the  Confed 
erates.  We  here  discovered  that  they  had  been  loot 
ing  and  burning  our  wagon  trains,  which  we  had  not 
seen  since  we  left  Dal  ton,  and  which  had  been  sent 
south  three  months  before.  McCook,  on  approach 
ing  Newnan,  had  been  fired  upon  by  a  militia  com 
mand  stationed  at  the  depot,  which  caused  him  to 
turn  to  the  left  and  take  position  in  a  hilly  and  wood 
ed  locality  near  the  town,  awaiting  the  coming  of  the 
Confederates.  The  Confederates  arrived  in  a  little 
while,  though  in  a  somewhat  disordered  and  strag 
gling  way,  after  two  days  and  a  night  of  hard  and 
strenuous  riding  and  fighting.  As  they  came  up, 
without  general  orders  they  went  into  the  battle 
where  the  fight  was  raging  hottest.  The  battle,  I 
suppose,  lasted  two  hours.  At  one  time  the  enemy 
captured  the  line  of  dismounted  horses  of  the  Fourth 
Tennessee  Regiment,  when  the  Regiment  wheeled 
about  and  recaptured  them,  killing,  wounding,  and 
taking  prisoners.  The  Regiment  lost  quite  a  number 
here.  Among  the  killed  was  James  Turner,  orderly 
sergeant  of  Company  A.  J.  A.  Stewart  lost  his  right 
arm.  Both  were  good  soldiers  and  most  excellent 
gentlemen.  Fighting  took  place  in  several  places  on 
the  field.  A  white  flag  was  displayed,  and  General 
McCook  and  about  fifteen  hundred  of  his  men  surren- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         71 

dered  with  a  battery  of  artillery;  also  about  three 
hundred  of  our  soldiers  who  were  with  the  train  were 
recaptured,  among  them  being  a  soldier  wearing  the 
military  coat  of  Capt.  W.  W.  Thompson  (the  only 
brother  of  my  wife),  of  the  Fourteenth  Tennessee 
Infantry,  who  was  killed  at  Chancellorsville,  Va,  I 
had  it  in  a  box  in  our  wagons  that  had  been  destroyed 
by  the  enemy,  and  the  soldier  had  put  it  on  with  a 
view  of  saving  it  for  me,  which  I  greatly  appreciated, 
for  I  was  anxious  to  return  it  to  his  father  and  moth 
er.  Besides  the  fifteen  hundred  taken  as  prisoners, 
some  five  hundred  of  General  McCook's  men  escaped 
during  the  parley.  They  were  pursued  to  the  river, 
which  they  crossed  after  abandoning  most  of  their 
horses.  Some  of  the  men  threw  away  their  arms 
and  accouterments  to  lighten  their  bodies,  it  was 
supposed,  for  swimming  the  river.  As  we  passed 
through  Newnan  on  our  return  tO!  the  Army  of 
Tennessee,  the  hospital  on  the  streets  was  crowded 
to  overflowing  with  wounded  soldiers. 

Generals  Dibrell  and  Iverson  were  equally  as 
successful  in  their  engagement  with  Stoneman  near 
Milledgeville,  Ga.,  capturing  him  and  his  entire  com 
mand.  McCook  and  Stoneman,  when  their  com 
mands  joined,  were  to  make  a  joint  attack  upon  the 
prison  at  Andersonville. 

After  this  Wheeler's  Corps  was  ordered  to  ren 
dezvous  at  Covington,  Ga.,  to  the  left  of  Atlanta. 
He  had  destroyed  the  entire  cavalry  force  of  Slier- 


72         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

man.  He  remained  at  Covington  some  days  recu 
perating  and  having  horses  shod,  when  he  was  or 
dered  upon  his  second  raid  into  Middle  Tennessee. 
He  moved  to  the  rear  of  Sherman  at  Atlanta,  and, 
going  north  along  the  railroad,  destroyed  miles  of 
track,  depots,  and  bridges,  and  capturing  some  small 
detachments,  with  but  little  resistance  until  he 
reached  Dalton.  Here  the  enemy  had  built  a  strong 
fortress  well  supplied  with  cannon,  and  had  a  consid 
erable  force  to  defend  the  place.  A  line  of  battle  was 
formed  as  if  we  were  going  to  charge,  and  by  a 
feint  its  strength  was  developed.  It  was  wisely  con 
cluded  that  the  booty  was  not  worth  the  cost  of  cap 
ture.  However,  we  succeeded  in  destroying  a  large 
lot  of  provisions  that  had  accumulated  there  and  a 
large  camp  of  wagons,  tents,  etc.,  located  in  the  sub 
urbs  of  the  town,  which  were  abandoned  by  the 
occupants,  who,  we  supposed,  had  taken  refuge  in 
the  fort.  Some  of  these  occupants  must  have  been 
quartermasters,  for  an  enterprising  soldier  picked  up 
a  tin  box  that  contained  several  thousand  dollars  in 
greenbacks. 

From  here  we  moved  to  the  right,  and,  entering 
East  Tennessee,  we  crossed  the  railroad  at  Straw 
berry  Plains,  sixteen  miles  above  Knoxville.  Here 
a  cavalry  force  coming  up  from  Knoxville  attacked 
our  rear;  but  upon  turning  on  them,  they  were  put 
to  flight  and  were  pursued  to  the  outskirts  of  the 
city,  killing  and  wounding  some,  capturing  prisoners 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         73 

and  horses,  with  the  loss  of  a  few  of  our  men  in 
killed  and  wounded. 

After  this  Wheeler  moved  over  into  Sequatchie 
Valley,  where  the  Fourth  Tennessee  was  detached 
and  sent  to  Tracy  City  with  a  view  of  capturing  a 
force  that  was  said  to  be  occupying  an  unfinished 
fort.     Upon  reaching  the  place,   Lieut.   Col.   Paul 
Anderson  made  his  disposition  for  capture  by  de 
tailing  Lieut.  W.  H.  Phillips,  of  Company  F,  with 
ten  men  to  charge  down  the  road  leading  to  the  fort 
in  order  to  attract  their  attention,   when   Colonel 
Anderson  would  come  up  from  the  rear,  where  the 
fort  was  said  to  be  unfinished  and  open,  and  capture 
it.     Before  reaching  his  position,  Colonel  Anderson 
discovered  that  the  opening  had  been  closed  and  that 
there  were  as  many  of  the  enemy  on  the  inside  of  the 
log  structure  as  he  had  on  the  outside.     He  at  once 
dispatched  a  message  to  Lieutenant  Phillips  counter 
manding  the  order ;  but  before  it  was  delivered  Phil 
lips,  growing  impatient,  charged  as  directed.     The 
courier  reached  there  in  time  to  see  Phillips  upon 
the  ground   in  front  of  the   fort  shooting  at  the 
portholes,  and  saw  him  scramble  to  his   feet  and 
stagger  across  the  road  into  the  timber  where  his 
comrades  had  sought  protection.     He  had  been  ter 
ribly  wounded  in  the  breast  and  shoulder,  showing 
evidence  of  paralysis  from  the  wounds.     A  convey 
ance  was  impressed  with  a  view  of  taking  him  and 
others  who  had  been  wounded  with  us;  but  after 


74         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

traveling  a  mile  or  two,  Phillips  was  suffering  so 
that  he  asked  to  be  left  at  a  house  to  die.  His 
friends  thought  that  he  certainly  could  live  but  a  lit 
tle  while.  For  six  months  after  this  he  was  reported 
in  company  reports  as  killed  in  action  in  Tennessee. 
To  the  surprise  of  every  one,  and  just  before  the 
surrender,  Phillips  came  marching  into  camp,  very 
thin  and  feeble,  but  alive.  He  said  that  after  he  had 
been  at  the  house  a  few  days  the  Federals  found  him 
there ;  and  when  he  was  able  to  be  moved,  they  car 
ried  him  to  the  fort  and  had  every  attention  paid  to 
him,  saying  he  was  too  brave  a  man  to  die  from 
neglect.  Phillips  remained  at  the  fort  for  some  time. 
When  he  had  convalesced  sufficiently,  a  proposition 
was  made  to  him  that  if  he  wanted  to  go  home  to  his 
family  he  could  do  so  if  he  would  take  the  oath. 
This  he  declined  to  do,  and  asked  to  be  sent  north 
as  a  prisoner.  He  was  sent  to  Johnson's  Island 
Prison.  Being  a  very  much  disabled  prisoner,  he 
was  sent  on  exchange  to  Richmond  in  March,  1865, 
reaching  the  camp  of  his  regiment  a  few  days  be 
fore  the  battle  of  Bentonville.  He  died  a  few  years 
ago  a  highly  respected  citizen,  but  never  recovered 
from  his  severe  wounds  and  suffered  the  remainder 
of  his  life. 

The  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  left  Tracy  City  for 
Lebanon  with  a  view  of  overtaking  General  Wheeler. 
A  great  many  of  our  soldiers  were  permitted  to  go 
by  their  homes  to  remount  themselves,  pick  up  ab- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.         75 

sentees,  and  obtain  recruits  if  possible.  I  availed 
myself  of  this  opportunity,  thinking  it  was  the  last 
chance  I  would  have  to  visit  my  family,  residing 
in  Gallatin,  Term.,  whom  I  had  not  seen  for  nearly 
three  years.  An  account  of  this  individual  raid  I 
made  upon  Gallatin  I  here  insert  under  the  head 

BEHIND  THE  LINES. 

I  tell  this  incident,  not  so  much  to  interest  the 
present  generation,  who  have  lived  so  close  to  it  and 
have  heard  for  themselves  from  the  enactors  in  the 
War  between  the  States  many  and  probably  more 
hazardous  undertakings  than  here  related,  but  that 
the  future  generation  may  know  the  state  of  affairs 
that  existed  in  this  country  about  the  homes  of  those 
soldiers  who  were  driven  from  them  and  sought  to 
see  their  families  again  after  a  forced  exile  of 
years. 

Soon  after  starting  from  Atlanta  on  General 
Wheeler's  second  raid  into  Middle  Tennessee,  in 
1864,  I  resolved  to  go  into  Gallatin,  my  home  and 
native  place,  and  see  my  family,  from  whom  I  had 
been  absent  for  more  than  two  years.  I  knew  that 
Gallatin  had  been  occupied  by  the  Federal  forces  a 
long  time,  and  that  the  commandants  of  the  place, 
Payne  and  then  Scarret,  had  been  placed  there  for 
their  well-known  disposition  to  lord  it  over  a  help 
less  and  noncombatant  population.  Many  outra 
geous  crimes  had  been  committed  by  them,  and 


76         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

scores  of  Confederate  soldiers  had  been  brutally 
murdered  for  no  other  reason  than  that  they  sought 
to  see  their  dear  ones  again.  The  darkest  chapter 
in  our  War  between  the  States  could  be  written 
under  this  head.  I  was  fully  posted  then  of  the 
hazard  of  such  an  undertaking;  but  I  wanted  to 
see  my  wife  and  little  boy  (who  was  but  a  few 
weeks  old  when  I  left  there),  and  I  fully  determined 
in  my  own  mind  to  risk  it,  as  I  felt  convinced  that 
this  would  be  the  last  opportunity. 

When  the  command  reached  the  Sequatchie  Val 
ley,  General  Wheeler  sent  the  Regiment  down  to 
Tracy  City  to  take  an  unfinished  fort  that  was  in 
course  of  erection  and  to  be  occupied  by  a  garrison. 
Fearing  that  we  would  not  return  in  time  to  make  my 
anticipated  trip  home,  I  went  to  Lieut.  Col.  Ander 
son,  my  warm-hearted  and  true  friend,  and  told  him 
how  disappointed  I  was,  disclosing  to  him  my  well- 
digested  plan  to  go  into  Gallatin  at  night,  stay  con 
cealed  in  the  house  all  day,  and  return  the  next 
night,  making  myself  unknown  to  any  I  should  meet 
along  the  way.  I  reminded  him  that  it  might  be 
possible  to  obtain  valuable  information  for  the  army. 
The  Colonel  did  not  think  my  plan  feasible,  remark 
ing  in  his  nasal  way :  "Guild,  you  are  certain  to  be 
killed  or  captured."  I  told  him  that  I  had  resolved 
to  make  the  attempt  and  believed  I  could  successfully 
accomplish  it.  He  finally  concluded  to  let  me  go. 

Capt.  Marcellus  Grissim,  Knot  Harris,  Billy  Bell, 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.         77 

and  Clay  Smith,  Colonel  Smith's  colored  servant, 
went  with  me.  These  men  all  lived  on  this  side  of  the 
Cumberland  River  and  some  distance  from  Gallatin, 
and  I  was  the  only  one  intending  to  go  that  far.  We 
at  once  set  out  for  Crossville,  on  the  mountain,  and 
then  to  Cookeville.  Soon  after  leaving  the  Regi 
ment  we  found  ourselves  in  the  country  infested 
with  the  bushwhacking  band  of  Tinker  Dave  Beatty, 
the  notorious  Federal  jayhawker,  a  terror  to  South 
ern  sympathizers  in  that  part  of  the  State,  whose 
whole  object  was  to  kill,  not  to  capture.  On  several 
occasions  as  we  passed  along  the  citizens  would  tell 
us  in  terrified  whispers  that  he  and  some  of  his  band 
had  but  a  moment  before  preceded  us,  and  death 
was  certain  if  we  fell  into  his  hands,  as  they  took 
no  prisoners.  To  avoid  such  results,  we  concluded 
to  lay  by  in  the  daytime  at  some  secluded  place  and 
travel  at  night.  Some  very  amusing  things  occurred 
during  our  night  riding.  A  good  many  Federal 
soldiers  belonging  to  Colonel  Stokes's  regiment  were 
furloughed  and  at  home.  If  we  chanced  to  meet  any 
of  these  upon  the  road,  and  we  sometimes  would  as 
we  passed  houses,  we  told  them  we  were  Federal  sol 
diers  and  had  been  sent  to  notify  them  to  return  at 
once  to  their  post  at  Carthage,  Tenn.,  as  it  was 
rumored  that  Wheeler  was  coming  across  the  moun 
tain. 

These  things  delayed  the  little  squad  of  ours  in 
reaching  their  destination.     Captain  Grissim's  home 


78         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

was  in  Smith  County,  near  Rome.  Before  reaching 
there  I  had  promised  him  to  stay  all  night  to  rest  up 
before  I  started  alone  for  Gallatin.  When  I  stated 
that  we  had  been  delayed  so  that  I  was  anxious  to 
start  at  once  in  order  to  get  back  and  meet  the  com 
mand  as  it  passed  Lebanon,  he  still  insisted,  but  I 
declined.  Leaving  my  horse  and  Clay,  the  servant, 
with  him,  I  started  on  foot  to  Gallatin.  It  was  then 
near  sundown.  My  first  object  was  to  get  a  boatman 
to  paddle  me  across  the  river.  I  found  much  difficul 
ty  in  this.  I  had  on  all  my  army  equipment — gray 
uniform,  two  army  pistols  around  me,  and  haversack 
in  which  I  carried  all  my  papers  as  adjutant  of  the 
Regiment.  But  over  these  I  had  on  a  long  linen 
duster,  which  somewhat  concealed  them  from  view. 
I  had  determined,  if  I  was  captured,  to  have  no 
evidence  upon  me  as  a  spy  or  to  disguise  the  fact 
that  I  was  a  Confederate  soldier,  though  the  old 
duster  would  easily  conceal  me,  and  I  posed  as  a 
Federal  soldier  when  asking  information.  I  had 
walked  some  distance  down  the  road  when  I  over 
took  a  man  driving  an  ox  wagon  going  in  the  same 
direction.  I  asked  him  if  he  knew  where  I  could 
get  some  one  to  put  me  across  the  river.  He  replied 
that  he  did  not,  and  wanted  to  know  who  I  was  and 
where  I  was  going.  I  told  him  that  I  was  one  of 
Colonel  Stokes's  men  and  had  been  absent  on  fur 
lough  at  my  home  in  the  mountains;  and  that,  hav 
ing  heard  that  the  rebels  were  marching  that  way, 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.         79 

I  was  hurrying  to  get  to  my  command  across  the 
river.  I  noticed  him  eying  me  closely,  and  after  a 
few  words  more  he  said  to  me:  "Come,  get  up  on 
the  tongue  of  the  cart.  I  don't  believe  you  are  tell 
ing  the  truth;  I  have  seen  you  somewhere  before. 
You  are  no  Yankee,  but  a  Confederate  soldier.  My 
name  is  Walton.  Tell  me  what  you  are  after."  He 
spoke  so  frankly  that  I  concluded  at  once  that  he 
would  do  to  confide  in.  I  got  on  the  cart,  told  him 
who  I  was,  and  that  I  wanted  to  go  to  Gallatin  that 
night  and  return  the  next;  that  I  had  left  my  horse 
and  servant  with  Captain  Grissim,  and  when  I  re 
turned  we  would  go  over  and  meet  General  Wheel 
er's  command  as  it  passed  Lebanon.  He  knew  Cap 
tain  Grissim,  but  said:  "If  you  go  to  Gallatin,  you 
will  certainly  be  killed.  The  meanest  kind  of  an  of 
ficer  is  in  command  there,  and  he  kills  every  Confed 
erate  soldier  he  captures.  Besides,  I  learned  that 
they  are  greatly  stirred  up,  are  impressing  the  citi 
zens  to  work  in  strengthening  the  fort,  and  have 
drawn  in  their  picket  posts  close  up  to  the  town." 
This  was  a  worse  state  of  affairs  than  I  had  antici 
pated  ;  still  I  replied  that  I  would  attempt  it.  At  this 
he  said:  "If  you  will  go,  get  up  and  ride;  I  live 
about  one  mile  down  the  road.  Go  by  the  house  and 
get  your  supper,  and  I  will  put  you  across  the  river." 
It  was  dark  when  we  reached  the  house,  and  his 
wife  had  prepared  supper.  After  supper  I  started; 
and  after  getting  across  the  river,  he  gave  me  direc- 


8o         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

tions  how  to  reach  the  Gallatin  and  Hartsville  Turn 
pike,  about  four  miles  distant. 

Unfortunately,  after  reaching  the  Sumner  County 
side  I  remembered  the  house  of  a  man  whom  I  knew 
well  as  a  most  enthusiastic  Southern  man  and  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  Confederate  cause  when  I  left 
there.  So  I  went  to  see  him.  He  did  not  seem  to 
know  me;  and  when  I  told  him  my  name,  he  still 
seemed  not  to  recognize  me.  It  was  too  apparent 
that  two  years  of  Yankee  rule  had  wrought  a 
change,  cooling  his  Southern  ardor ;  and  I  left  him, 
congratulating  myself  that  I  had  not  told  him  where 
I  was  going.  I  fully  resolved  that  I  would  make  no 
more  experiments  in  this  direction. 

I  was  now  pretty  well  posted,  so  I  continued  my 
course  toward  the  pike.  A  short  distance  from  the 
pike  I  passed  the  house  of  another  citizen  whom  I 
knew  well,  Mr.  Carey.  He  was  standing  at  his 
front  gate,  and  I  easily  recognized  him  in  the  star 
light  and  the  candle  reflection  from  his  house,  which 
stood  near  by.  I  passed,  not  intending  to  stop  with 
a  "Howdy-do,"  when  he  remarked:  "You  seem  to 
be  traveling  at  a  late  hour  and  all  alone."  "Yes," 
I  replied.  "I  am  anxious  to  get  to  my  command  at 
Gallatin."  He  spoke  up  quickly,  remarking:  "If 
you  had  been  here  a  few  minutes  ago,  you  would 
have  met  up  with  scouts  that  stopped  here,  fed  their 
horses,  and  got  something  to  eat."  I  asked  him 
what  direction  they  went,  and  he  replied :  "To  Gal- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         81 

latin  from  Carthage."  He  then  set  out  and  without 
any  questions  from  me  told  me  the  same  condition 
of  things  that  my  friend  Walton  had  told  me,  ex 
cept  that  he  added  that  all  the  roads  out  of  Gallatin 
were  being  scouted,  as  they  were  anticipating  an 
attack  then  from  Wheeler.  About  this  time  he 
stopped  and  remarked:  "Listen!  I  can  hear  the 
horses'  feet  upon  the  pike  traveling  toward  Gallatin." 
This  was  a  very  probable  occurrence;  but  I  could 
not  hear  them,  though  I  seized  the  opportunity  to 
start  in  that  direction,  saying :  "I  can  probably  over 
take  a  straggling  cavalryman,  and  I  will  get  to  ride." 
I  congratulated  myself  again,  but  with  more  satis 
faction  for  sharpness  than  I  did  in  the  former  inter 
view,  and  with  the  fuller  determination  that  this 
would  end  my  interviewing  of  citizens  and  would 
risk  all  on  the  information  I  had.  I  am  satisfied, 
however,  that  if  I  had  confided  my  case  to  Mr.  Ca 
rey  he  would  have  assisted  me  to  the  utmost  extent. 

I  then  began  my  travel  down  the  pike  toward 
Gallatin,  about  fourteen  miles  distant,  stopping  to 
listen  occasionally.  At  Bledsoe's  Creek,  six  miles 
from  the  town,  I  stopped  on  the  hill  near  the  toll- 
gate  to  listen,  and  thought  I  heard  the  sound  of 
horses'  hoofs  on  the  turnpike.  After  waiting 
awhile,  I  moved  across  the  bridge  and,  to  avoid 
meeting  any  one,  got  over  the  fence  with  a  view  of 
traveling  parallel  with  the  pike  until  I  came  to  a 
lane  that  led  from  the  pike  to  Cairo,  my  intention 
6 


82         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

being  when  I  struck  the  lane  to  travel  along  it  back 
to  the  pike  again.  When  I  reached  the  lane,  I  sat 
on  the  fence,  and  to  save  me  I  could  not  remember 
which  end  to  take.  I  remember  to'  this  day  my  sit 
ting  there  and  trying  to  reason  it  out.  I  do  not 
think  I  was  asleep ;  but  I  was  so  exhausted  from  six 
weeks'  riding  day  and  night  that  I  became  bewil 
dered  and  chose  the  wrong  end  of  the  lane.  When 
consciousness  returned,  I  found  myself  near  Cairo, 
more  than  a  mile  o<ff  of  my  route.  I  immediately 
turned  and  retraced  my  steps  to  the  turnpike.  When 
I  reached  it,  the  same  bewilderment  again  overtook 
me.  I  stood  there  for  some  time  debating  with  my 
self  the  way  to  Gallatin,  and  at  length  set  out  again, 
supposing  I  was  right  until  I  found  myself  ap 
proaching  the  point  at  Bledsoe's  Bridge  which  I  had 
left  more  than  an  hour  before. 

I  knew  every  foot  of  ground  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  had  traveled  these  roads  hundreds  of  times. 
My  grandfather  Blackmore's  farm  was  contiguous 
to  them,  and  the  people  in  the  neighborhood  were 
friends  whom  I  knew  and  had  visited.  I  had  gone 
at  least  four  miles  out  of  my  way;  and  looking  to 
ward  the  east,  I  could  discover  evidences  of  day 
breaking.  I  knew  it  would  be  death  to  be  caught  in 
that  vicinity  in  daylight,  and,  tired,  worn-out,  and 
footsore,  I  struck  a  trot  toward  Gallatin  with  all  the 
vim  and  strength  I  could  command,  determined  not 
again  to  leave  the  beaten  track.  At  Mr.  Barry's  I 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         83 

took  the  old  Cairo  Road  to  Gallatin.  At  the  Cham 
bers  farm  I  left  it  and,  passing  Mr.  Calgy's  place, 
passed  on  to  my  father's  farm  and  house,  south  of 
Gallatin,  on  the  Lebanon  road  and  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  courthouse  at  Gallatin.  The  Harts- 
ville  Pike  that  I  traveled  down  approached  Gallatin 
from  the  east. 

As  I  got  into  the  field  near  the  house  day  was 
evidently  breaking  in  the  east.  I  looked  toward 
town  and  saw  a  camp  fire  on  Fitzgerald's  Hill,  which 
adjoins  the  corporation  line,  and  saw  soldiers  stand 
ing  around.  I  knew  then  that  this  was  the  picket 
base,  and  that  the  vidette  stand  would  be  near  the 
front  gate  of  the  yard  that  stood  upon  the  next 
eminence  in  the  road  from  the  picket.  The  house 
stood  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  from  the 
direction  I  was  approaching.  Thus  the  whole  situa 
tion  was  before  me.  Concluding  that  there  might  be 
a  foot  race  before  the  fight  was  over,  I  thought 
that  I  had  better  lighten  myself  for  such  an  event, 
should  it  occur.  As  I  have  said,  I  had  been  carry 
ing  two  large  army  pistols  in  my  belt,  and  they 
had  become  burdensome,  rubbing  the  skin  on  my 
side  and  hips  till  it  seemed  as  if  they  were  pieces 
of  raw  beef.  So  I  concluded  to  conceal  one  of  them 
in  the  fence  corner  and  get  it  when  I  returned.  I 
did  not  intend  to  disarm  myself,  and  I  retained  one 
army  pistol  and  a  smaller  one  that  I  had  in  my  haver 
sack,  a  Smith  &  Wesson.  A  difficulty  was  the  last 


84        Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

thing  I  could  wish  for,  but  I  wanted  to  be  prepared 
for  any  forced  defense. 

I  then  proceeded  down  the  fence  toward  the  house, 
expecting  to  pass  through  the  hedge  of  burdock 
along  the  pike  and  on  to  the  opposite  side  from  the 
house,  where  I  remembered  there  was  an  opening 
covered  by  rails.  On  reaching  it,  I  looked  up  and 
down  the  pike  and  saw  the  pickets  about  one  hundred 
yards  off,  standing  at  the  upper  gate  of  my  father's 
yard  fence  and  looking  south,  with  their  backs  to 
ward  me.  All  seemed  right  at  the  guard  post;  and 
then,  lifting  myself  quietly  over  the  rails,  I  slipped 
across  the  road  to  the  garden  fence  between  the 
guard  and  vidette  stand  and,  climbing  over,  fell  into 
the  garden.  Another  lightning  process  suggested 
itself  to  me — to  pull  off  the  heavy  cavalry  boots  that 
I  had  swapped  for  with  one  of  General  McCook's 
cavalry  soldiers  at  Newnan,  Ga.,  a  few  weeks  be 
fore.  They  had  skinned  my  feet  till  I  could  hardly 
hobble  along.  So,  going  into  the  summer  house,  I 
sat  down  on  a  bench  and  shed  them,  and  never  saw 
them  again.  I  proceeded  to  the  yard  and,  going 
around  the  house,  saw  a  light  burning  in  my  moth 
er's  room  and  felt  then  (which  was  a  fact)  that  she 
was  up  with  an  invalid  sister.  I  pulled  up  the  back 
steps  to  a  gallery  in  the  rear,  and,  going  to  my 
mother's  room  and  making  a  smothered  knock  at 
the  door,  heard  some  one  say :  "Who  is  that  ?"  In 
a  low  tone  of  voice  I  whispered  my  name,  when  I 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         85 

heard  my  sister  exclaim:  "Lord,  ma,  it  is  Brother 
George!"  The  door  was  opened,  and  I  quietly  en 
tered.  I  could  not,  if  I  wanted  to,  tell  what  hap 
pened  then.  It  was  a  sudden  and  unanticipated  ap 
parition.  Both  my  mother  and  sister  looked  dazed 
and  could  not  believe  for  a  moment  what  they  saw. 
If  I  had  fallen  from  the  skies,  they  could  not  have 
been  more  surprised.  After  some  explanations  and 
conversation,  I  asked  for  my  wife  and  baby,  and 
was  told  that  they  were  on  a  visit  to  Nashville.  I 
shall  not  undertake  to  describe  the  deep  disappoint 
ment  that  this  news  created.  I  remember  to  have  ex 
claimed  in  tones  of  deep  despair :  "Is  it  possible,  after 
all,  that  I  will  not  be  permitted  to  see  them?"  After 
a  little  while  my  mother  said  to  me :  "My  son,  do  you 
know  the  risk  you  are  running?  The  soldiers  are 
at  the  gate,  and  every  day  they  are  through  the  yard, 
and  they  frequently  come  into  the  house.  There  is 
not  a  negro  about  the  place  who  would  not  take 
pleasure  in  informing  them  that  you  are  here.  The 
soldiers  in  town  are  expecting  an  attack.  They  are 
strengthening  the  fort  in  anticipation  of  this,  and  are 
impressing  everybody  that  comes  about  town  to  work 
on  the  fortifications.  Besides,  if  they  capture  you, 
they  will  kill  you  and  burn  up  the  house."  I  said : 
"Yes,  I  understand  all  this  and  know  what  risk  I 
am  running.  But  if  you  do  as  I  suggest,  I  do  not 
think  any  harm  will  come  of  it.  I  have  come  to  stay 
but  to-day,  and  will  return  to  the  army  as  soon  as  it 


86         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

is  night  again.  Let  me  go  upstairs  to  the  room 
looking  toward  town.  I  am  so  tired  that  as  soon  as 
I  strike  the  bed  I  will  go  to  sleep,  when  you  can 
lock  the  door;  and  if  any  of  you  want  to  see  me, 
you  can  slip  in  during  the  day,  and  there  is  no  reason 
that  any  one's  attention  should  be  directed  to  the 
room  if  you  are  vigilant  and  discreet.  Let  noj[>ne 
know  the  fact  that  I  am  here  but  those  of  the  imme 
diate  family,  for  I  did  not  come  for  or  expect  to 
see  any  one  else.  As  soon  as  it  gets  quiet  after  night 
fall,  I  will  come  downstairs  and,  after  telling  you 
all  good-by,  will  start  back  to  the  army." 

I  had  to  pass  a  long  and  open  porch  before  reach 
ing  this  room.  Daylight  was  then  evident.  Look 
ing  toward  the  front  gate,  the  pickets  were  plainly  to 
be  seen,  and  to  shelter  myself  from  their  view  I 
got  down  on  my  hands  and  knees  and  crawled  to  the 
door  of  the  room.  Without  divesting  myself  of 
clothing,  I  fell  across  the  bed,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
was  fast  asleep.  If  any  one  came  into  the  room 
before  twelve  o'clock  in  the  day,  I  did  not  know  it. 
About  this  hour  I  heard  some  one  in  the  room,  and, 
looking  up,  I  discovered  that  it  was  my  wife.  She 
had  left  Nashville  the  evening  before,  and  had  come 
in  her  buggy  as  far  as  Hendersonville,  where  she 
stayed  all  night  with  an  acquaintance,  and  then  went 
on  to  her  father's  house  in  Gallatin.  Her  father,  Dr. 
George  Thompson,  who  had  been  out  to  see  me,  had 
told  her  that  I  was  at  my  father's,  and  without  get- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         87 

ting  out  of  the  buggy  she  had  driven  on  out.  She 
said,  further,  that  she  had  heard  in  Nashville  the 
morning  before  that  Wheeler  was  on  a  raid  into 
Middle  Tennessee,  and  that  she  had  started  at  once 
that  she  might  be  where  I  could  communicate  with 
her  if  possible.  I  then  asked  to  see  my  little  boy, 
when  she  answered,  "No,"  saying  that  my  mother 
and  herself  had  concluded  that  it  might  reveal  the 
fact  to  others  that  I  was  in  the  house ;  that  the  child 
was  a  great  pet  with  the  soldiers  that  came  around 
the  house;  and  that  he  was  constantly  telling  them 
that  his  father  had  a  gun  too,  and  a  pistol  and 
sword,  and  that  he  was  coming  home  soon  and 
would  cut  their  heads  off  and  shoot  them  too.  I 
asked  if  she  could  not  devise  some  way  for  me  to 
see  him,  when  she  said  that  she  would  contrive  to 
get  him  out  on  the  porch  under  a  side  window  of  the 
room,  which  she  did,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  in  this 
way  of  seeing  him.  At  night  when  I  left  he  was 
asleep  in  his  bed,  and  before  leaving  I  gave  the  little 
fellow  a  hug  and  kissed  him  farewell. 

During  the  day  members  of  the  family  would  slip 
in  and  see  me  for  a  few  minutes,  one  at  a  time.  I 
saw  only  five  people  to  speak  to  during  my  day's 
visit.  My  father  was  at  Nashville  practicing  law. 
He  had  to  do  something  to  meet  the  necessities  of 
a  large  and  helpless  family.  The  large  farm  was  in 
ruins,  the  stock  was  all  taken,  and  the  servants  had 
gone  to  the  Yankees.  My  father  had  been  arrested 


88         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

by  Andrew  Johnson,  who  was  military  Governor  of 
Tennessee,  as  a  civil  prisoner  and  sent  to  Fort  Mack- 
inac,  Mich.  After  an  incarceration  of  nearly  a 
year,  he  was  exchanged  for  Judge  Ritter,  of  Ken 
tucky.  Gen.  John  H.  Morgan  had  arrested  Ritter 
for  the  purpose  of  making  the  exchange. 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  evening  I  was  dozing 
upon  the  bed  when  I  heard  loud  talking.  Glancing 
out  of  the  window,  I  saw  Federal  soldiers  running 
through  the  yard  in  every  direction  in  an  excited 
way.  I  at  once  concluded  that  they  had  been  in 
formed  that  I  was  in  the  house,  and  that  they  were 
making  their  arrangements  to  kill  or  capture  me.  I 
concluded  at  once  to  meet  it  as  best  I  could.  I  hob 
bled  to  a  chair  and,  placing  it  in  the  room  opposite 
the  door,  drew  my  army  pistol,  clicked  the  cylinder 
around  to  see  that  all  was  right,  and,  holding  it  un 
der  my  coat  so  that  it  could  not  be  seen,  I  awaited 
the  issue.  I  remained  in  this  state  of  suspense  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes,  I  suppose,  when  my  wife  tiptoed 
into  the  room  to  inform  me  that  a  citizen  of  Wilson 
County  had  come  into  Gallatin  that  day,  that  the 
guard  was  after  him  to  put  him  to  work  on  the  for 
tifications,  that  he  had  evaded  them  and  had  run 
through  the  large  yard  full  of  shrubbery  to  make  his 
escape,  and  that  everything  was  now  quiet.  I  do  not 
know  that  I  was  ever  more  relieved  by  a  piece  of 
information. 

The  five  individuals  mentioned  above  continued 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.         89 

to  slip  in  and  see  me  until  I  left.  They  were  much 
distressed  that  I  could  not  take  clothing  with  me, 
which,  of  course,  I  sadly  needed.  However,  they 
managed  to  get  me  a  soft  pair  of  shoes  to  take  the 
place  of  the  army  boots  that  I  had  abandoned.  I 
do  not  think  I  am  exaggerating  at  all  when  I  say 
that  if  a  corps  of  army  surgeons  had  made  an  exam 
ination  of  my  person  they  would  have  unanimously 
reported  that  I  would  not  be  able  to  move  in  ten  days. 
Between  nine  and  ten  o'clock,  all  being  quiet,  I  got 
up  and  adjusted  my  clothing,  haversack,  and  pistol, 
and,  taking  my  shoes  in  my  hand,  quietly  walked 
down  to  my  mother's  room,  where  I  was  to  meet 
them  before  leaving.  I  quietly  unbolted  the  door 
and  walked  in.  I  shall  never  forget  that  scene.  It 
remains  in  my  memory  yet  as  a  "death  watch."  All 
were  weeping  with  smothered  sobbing.  There  was 
no  occasion  to  remain  longer  now,  so  I  immediately 
commenced  bidding  them  farewell.  The  last  to  meet 
me  was  my  old  mother,  who  as  she  arose  from  the 
old  family  rocker  and  threw  her  arms  about  my 
neck  said  in  these  never-to-be-forgotten  words: 
"O,  my  son!  Do  you  not  think  your  little  army  is 
already  crushed  and  overwhelmed?  I  sit  here  day 
after  day  thinking  and  praying  for  you  all  and  lis 
tening  to  the  running  of  train  after  train  of  soldiers 
from  the  North,  and  feel  that  you  cannot  withstand 
such  numbers."  I  replied :  "It  is  a  gloomy  outlook, 
indeed;  but  my  duty  as  I  feel  it  is  to  return  to 


go        Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

my  comrades,  to  share  whatever  fate  may  befall 
them." 

At  that  I  stepped  out  into  the  dark  and  began  my 
sad  tramp  again.  Somehow  I  felt  stronger  and  bet 
ter  in  getting  out  in  the  open  air  once  more.  I 
concluded  that  I  would  go  around  the  pickets  this 
time  on  their  front.  I  stopped  at  a  convenient  stump 
and  put  on  my  shoes  for  the  first  time.  They  were 
exactly  what  I  needed;  they  were  loose  upon  my 
feet  and  gave  me  no  annoyance.  After  traveling 
around,  I  remembered  my  other  pistol,  and  went 
toward  the  place  I  had  hid  it.  Upon  reaching  there, 
I  searched  and  searched,  but  could  not  find  it.  After 
passing  through  a  cornfield  and  at  a  point  where  the 
lands  of  my  father  and  Mrs.  Calgy  joined,  I  noticed 
the  tall  weeds  growing  in  the  corners  of  the  fence. 
It  was  a  first-rate  hiding  place,  and  was  inviting  to 
rest,  which  I  so  much  needed.  The  place  was  about 
half  a  mile  from  my  father's  house,  where  I  con 
cluded  to  avail  myself  of  a  night's  rest  and  a  day  also 
before  proceeding.  I  argued,  too,  that  if  I  should 
be  captured  out  there,  there  would  not  be  such  dire 
results — in  other  words,  they  would  not  interfere 
with  the  family.  So  I  crept  into  the  high  weeds,  and 
in  a  few  moments  was  fast  asleep. 

When  I  awoke  it  was  late  in  the  day — a  calm, 
crisp  September  day  in  1864.  I  could  hear  the  Fed 
eral  forage  wagons  lumbering  along  the  pike,  and 
the  Federals  actually  came  into  the  field,  which  was 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.         91 

a  very  large  one,  and  gathered  corn.  I  quietly  lay 
in  the  weeds  and  ate  the  lunch  my  folks  had  placed 
in  my  haversack,  partaking  pretty  freely  of  a  bottle 
of  blackberry  wine,  and  then  smoked  my  pipe.  I 
recollect  while  lying  there  to  have  heard  the  thunder 
of  Wheeler's  guns  away  across  the  Cumberland. 
When  night  came  on  I  went  back  and  had  no  diffi 
culty  in  finding  my  pistol.  I  felt  much  refreshed 
after  my  night  and  day's  rest,  but  was  absolutely  per 
ishing  with  thirst  for  water.  The  bottle  of  wine  had 
produced  it,  I  suppose.  I  remembered  a  wet-weather 
branch  on  Mrs.  Calgy's  farm  about  a  mile  distant, 
and  I  broke  for  it.  It  lay  just  along  the  way  I  was 
to  travel.  Upon  reaching  it,  I  found  a  pool  of 
muddy  water.  Kneeling  down,  I  filled  my  stomach 
with  the  vile  stuff;  but  it  did  not  slake  my  thirst 
a  particle,  and  smelled  and  tasted  of  a  hog  wallow 
strong  enough  to  kill  one.  I  filled  my  empty  wine 
bottle  full,  and  hurried  on  to  the  old  spring  on  the 
Chambers  farm,  where  my  father  was  reared  and 
educated  by  his  uncle,  Colonel  Conn,  who  lived  an 
other  mile  distant,  but  still  along  my  course  of  trav 
el.  Occasionally  I  would  take  a  sip  from  the  bottle 
and  wash  out  my  mouth,  which  seemed  to  do  some 
good;  and  when  I  reached  the  spring,  I  filled  my 
stomach  full  of  the  sweet  beverage,  which  at  once 
did  me  great  good.  I  had  never  before  come  so  near 
perishing  for  water,  and  I  know  now  what  it  means 
to  thirst. 


92         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Upon  reaching  the  Hartsville  Pike,  I  determined 
not  to  leave  it  till  I  reached  Anthony's  store,  where 
I  was  to  go  on  to  the  Cumberland  River,  determin 
ing  that  if  I  met  Federal  scouts  I  would  conceal  my 
self  until  the  squad  passed ;  and  then  if  I  chanced  to 
meet  a  straggler  I  would  unhorse  him  and,  mounting 
his  horse,  go  at  breakneck  speed  till  I  reached  the 
point  on  the  river  where  my  good  friend  Mr.  Wal 
ton  was  to  come  for  me  at  a  given  signal.  For 
tunately,  I  met  no  one  and  proceeded  on  foot  till  I 
reached  the  vicinity  of  the  river  a  little  after  daylight. 

I  found  some  difficulty  in  locating  the  exact  place. 
Looking  about,  I  recognized  the  house  of  a  lady 
and  gentleman  whom  I  knew  well.  Having  reached 
the  time  and  place  when  I  could  throw  off  my  dis 
guise,  I  went  over  to  Mr.  McMurtry's  house.  He 
and  his  wife  were  glad  to  see  me.  They  had  a  good 
breakfast  prepared,  which  I  partook  of  very  liberally, 
telling  Mr.  McMurtry  that  Mr.  Walton  had  promised 
to  meet  me  at  the  river  on  giving  the  usual  signal. 
McMurtry  seemed  to  understand  this  "grapevine" 
way  of  doing,  and  went  with  me,  giving  the  custom 
ary  signal  himself.  A  few  minutes  later  Walton 
came  over  in  his  canoe.  About  the  first  words  he 
spoke  were  to  tell  me  that  Captain  Grissim  had  been 
killed  by  a  scout  of  Federal  soldiers  from  Carthage 
on  the  night  I  had  promised  to  stay  with  him  and 
rest  before  going  to  Gallatin,  that  Grissim  and  two 
young  recruits  who  were  to  go  to  the  army  with  him 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.         93 

had  all  been  killed  in  their  mother's  yard  and  in  her 
presence,  and  that  if  I  had  consented  to  stay  that 
night  I  certainly  would  have  been  killed  with  them. 
He  stated  further  that  later  in  the  day,  and  after  the 
scouts  had  left  the  neighborhood,  he  had  gone  up 
there  and  was  told  where  he  could  find  my  horse  and 
the  servant,  who*  were  hiding  out ;  that  he  had 
brought  them  down  and  concealed  them ;  that  the 
country,  he  understood,  was  still  full  of  scouting  Fed 
eral  soldiers ;  and  that  I  must  g-o  up  to  his  house  and 
remain  quietly  till  night,  when  he  would  go  with  me 
to  get  my  horse.  Passing  over  the  river,  I  did  as  he 
suggested.  At  night  I  mounted  my  horse  and  pro^ 
ceeded  toward  Lebanon,  where  I  expected  to  meet 
some  of  our  command.  Before  leaving  I  thanked 
Mr.  Walton  for  his  great  kindness ;  and  having  noth 
ing  to  give,  I  reached  in  my  haversack  and,  taking 
out  the  beautiful  little  Smith  &  Wesson  pistol,  I 
gave  it  to  him  to  give  to  his  wife  with  my  thanks  for 
her  goodness  and  her  ever-to-be-remembered  kind 
ness  to  a  stranger  under  difficulties. 

I  expected  to  close  the  details  of  this  lengthy  inci 
dent  here,  though  I  do  not  know  how  I  could  have 
said  less ;  but  I  feel  that  I  should  tell  one  more  haz 
ard  I  encountered  before  reaching  a  point  of  safety, 
and  it  is  as  follows : 

More  than  a  year  ago  an  elderly  lady  came  into 
my  office  and  asked  if  I  was  Mr.  Guild.  I  replied 
that  I  was.  Then  she  said:  "I  am  the  woman  you 


94        Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

met  when  you  called  at  my  house,  three  miles  from 
Lebanon,  on  the  Big  Spring  Road,  in  the  fall  of 
1864,  to  inquire  if  there  were  any  Yankees  at  Leba 
non.  It  has  been  more  than  forty-five  years  ago.  I 
moved  to  Texas  soon  after  the  war,  and  this  is  my 
first  visit  to  Tennessee  since  I  left.  I  have  heard 
from  you  occasionally  since  through  Tennesseeans  I 
chanced  to  meet  from  time  to  time,  and  I  have  fre 
quently  thought  that  if  I  ever  returned  to  Tennessee 
I  would  look  you  up.  You  remember  the  circum 
stances,  don't  you?"  I  replied  that  I  could  never  for 
get  them.  She  then  proceeded  to  tell  in  her  own  way 
that  she  saw  me  down  on  the  road  that  night,  and 
that  I  was  seeking  information.  Three  Confederate 
soldiers  of  Colonel  Starnes's  regiment  were  sitting  in 
the  hall  with  me  at  the  time.  They  had  been  visiting 
their  homes  in  the  Rome  neighborhood,  and  were 
there  when  Captain  Grissim  and  his  young  brother 
and  nephew  were  killed  by  Colonel  Stokes's  soldiers 
from  Carthage,  and  were  in  search  of  their  regiment. 
The  Federal  scouts,  whom  they  were  dodging  in  try 
ing  to  escape,  were  patrolling  that  section.  "Yes,"  I 
said,  "I  remember  to  have  seen  them  when  they  ran 
through  the  hallway  into  the  back  yard/'  "Yes," 
she  said,  "when  you  dismounted  and  started  up  the 
walk  to  the  house,  they  seized  their  guns  to  get 
ready  to  shoot  you,  when  I  jumped  up  and  said : 
'Don't  shoot!  It  may  be  some  acquaintance,  and  I 
will  go  down  and  meet  him  to  find  out  his  business/ 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.         95 

At  that  they  rushed  out  of  the  house.  When  we  met, 
you  told  me  that  your  name  was  Guild,  that  you 
were  a  Confederate  soldier,  and  had  been  to  Gallatin 
for  a  few  days  to  see  your  family,  and  that  you  were 
returning  to  the  army  again.  You  then  asked  what 
the  condition  of  things  was  at  Lebanon,  and  if 
there  were  Confederate  or  Federal  soldiers  about  the 
place.  You  said  that  you  had  come  in  with  Captain 
Grissim,  and  that  upon  returning  to  the  neighborhood 
of  Rome  you  learned  of  the  killing  and  had  your 
self  been  looking  out  for  Federal  scouts.  In  reply 
to  your  question  I  said  that  I  did  not  know,  had  not 
been  there  myself  or  seen  any  one  who  had  for  the 
last  day  or  so,  and  that  everybody  was  afraid  to  go.'"' 
Thanking  her  for  the  information,  I  returned  to  my 
horse  and  mounted,  proceeding  toward  Lebanon. 
She  remained  at  my  office  an  hour,  I  suppose,  in  in 
teresting  conversation.  She  told  me  her  name,  but, 
I  am  sorry  to  say,  it  has  escaped  my  memory.  I 
saw  her  no  more,  and  suppose  that  she  returned  to 
Texas  after  her  visit. 

On  approaching  Lebanon,  a  deathlike  stillness  pre 
vailed.  I  could  see  neither  individuals  nor  lights 
about  the  streets  or  houses.  The  numerous  white 
houses  glistened  in  the  moonlight  like  a  whitened 
cemetery.  I  remembered  where  Mrs.  Dolly  Ander 
son  McGregor  lived.  She  was  the  wife  of  Capt. 
Andrew  McGregor  and  a  sister  of  Lieutenant  Colo 
nel  Anderson,  of  the  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry. 


96        Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

She  readily  informed  me  that  a  Georgia  command 
of  cavalry  had  passed  down  the  street  toward  Nash 
ville  about  sundown.  I  concluded  that  they  would 
stop  at  the  creek  about  a  mile  away  to  water  or  feed 
their  horses  or  probably  to  camp  for  the  night.  I 
hurried  in  that  direction  to  overtake  them.  As  I 
approached  Seawell  Hill,  near  the  residence  of  Judge 
Abe  Caruthers  (now  deceased),  I  came  upon  a 
picket.  I  went  forward  and  told  them  who  I  was, 
and  found  out  that  the  Georgia  battalion  had  gone 
into  camp  for  the  night.  I  told  them  I  was  so 
tired  that  I  would  lie  down  at  the  post  and  sleep 
till  daylight,  when  I  would  go  forward  and  meet  the 
major  of  their  battalion,  whom  I  knew.  I  took  ad 
vantage  of  the  opportunity  offered  to  review  the  very 
successful  campaign  I  had  just  finished ;  and,  to  be 
brief,  I  wisely  concluded  that  the  army  was  the 
safest  refuge  in  time  of  civil  war,  and  that  if  the  war 
were  to  last  a  thousand  years  I  would  not  undertake 
a  campaign  "behind  the  lines"  again.  There  were 
too  many  unanticipated  difficulties  and  hairbreadth 
escapes  along  the  way.  The  day  that  I  spent  at 
home  was  one  of  untold  agonies  to  my  family,  such 
as  is  hardly  possible  for  human  nature  to  endure.  I 
could  not  and  would  not  impose  it  upon  them  again. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

IN  TENNESSEE,  VIRGINIA,  AND  HARASSING 
SHERMAN. 

ON  reaching  Lebanon,  I  came  up  with  a  squadron 
or  more  of  the  Fourth  Georgia.  They  had  been  sent 
out  on  detached  duty,  and  were  trying  to  overtake 
the  command.  General  Dibrell  came  in  from  White 
County  with  four  or  five  hundred  men,  mostly  re 
cruits  and  returning  absentees.  We  learned  definite 
ly  that  General  Wheeler  had  passed  over  the  Nash 
ville,  Chattanooga,  and  St.  Louis  Railway  near 
Nashville,  and  that  in  passing  Franklin  he  had  a 
fight  with  the  enemy  and  had  gone  farther  south. 
General  Kelly,  a  well  and  favorably  known  officer 
of  his  command,  and  others  had  been  killed.  Dib 
rell  assumed  command  and  marched  down  the  Mur- 
freesboro  Pike,  expecting  to  cross  the  railroad  near 
Smyrna,  in  order  that  he  might  hear  something  of 
General  Wheeler;  but  being  informed  here  that  Gen. 
"Cerro  Gordo"  Williams  was  at  Sparta  with  a  com 
mand  of  about  fifteen  hundred  men  and  he  being  the 
ranking  officer,  General  Dibrell  concluded  that  he 
would  go  to  Sparta  and  unite  with  him.  There  were 
not  more  than  three  hundred  guns  in  Dibrell's  little 
command  at  that  time. 

Upon  reaching  Blackshop,  about  eight  miles  from 
Murfreesboro,  we  marched  over  to  the  Woodbury 
7 


98         Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Pike,  near  Readyville,  and  went  into  camp  for  the 
night  on  the  first  high  ground  from  the  bridge.  We 
had  been  informed  by  a  citizen  that  a  few  hours 
before  the  Seventh  Pennsylvania  Cavalry  Regiment 
had  passed  down  the  pike  toward  Murfreesboro. 
Before  lying  down  on  the  grass  for  the  night  a 
picket  was  placed  at  the  bridge.  At  daylight  the 
next  morning  this  Federal  regiment  came  charging 
into  our  camp.  It  is  said  that  they  were  eleven  hun 
dred  strong;  for  they  had  just  returned  from  the 
North,  where  they  had  been  recruited  to  the  highest 
limit.  Many  of  the  Confederates  had  not  arisen 
from  their  pallets.  A  general  mix-up  fight  was  had, 
our  men  using  their  navy  pistols  and  outfighting 
the  Yankees  with  sabers.  General  Dibrell  rallied 
the  men  at  the  other  end  of  the  line  and  gave  the 
enemy  a  volley  which  rather  staggered  them.  After 
some  hard  fighting,  General  Dibrell  withdrew  his 
men.  No  pursuit  was  made,  except  that  their  ad 
vance  guard  attacked  our  rear  guard  at  the  bridge 
this  side  of  Woodbury  and  were  repulsed.  Quite  a 
number  of  men  were  killed  and  wounded  on  both 
sides.  The  Federals  captured  about  one  hundred  of 
our  disarmed  men.  With  their  numerical  strength 
and  advantage,  they  should  have  captured  the  entire 
command  of  General  Dibrell. 

We  then  pursued  our  way  to  Sparta.  We  met 
General  Williams  at  Sparta  with  his  force  of  about 
fifteen  hundred  men.  We  went  from  there  over  to 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  'Regiment.         99 

a  place  called  Sinking  Cave,  where  we  remained  two 
days,  feeding  our  horses  and  having  them  shod. 
General  Williams  concluded  to  return  to  the  army 
at  Atlanta.  We  passed  on  through  Crossville  and 
up  through  Upper  East  Tennessee.  Gen.  John  H. 
Morgan  had  just  been  killed  at  Greeneville,  Term., 
where  he  was  stationed.  The  circumstances  attend 
ing  this  unnecessary  murder  greatly  exasperated  the 
men.  After  killing  him,  it  is  said  that  a  soldier 
lifted  his  dead  body  up  on  his  horse  and  paraded 
the  streets  of  Greeneville  with  it,  amid  the  cheers  of 
the  Federal  soldiers.  Federal  bushwhackers  were 
thick  along  our  line  of  march  and  occasionally  killed 
some  of  our  men.  This,  with  the  killing  of  General 
Morgan,  caused  our  men  to  retaliate,  and  they  were 
guilty  of  some  outrageous  conduct.  General  Wil 
liams  tried  to  stop  it,  and  had  three  privates  and  a 
lieutenant  arrested  and  regularly  tried  by  court- 
martial.  The  facts  alleged  against  them  were  proved 
to  be  true,  but  the  court-martial  left  it  to  the  com 
manding  general,  Williams,  to  fix  the  penalty,  when 
he  ordered  the  severest  punishment  to  be  enforced— 
death  by  hanging.  As  soon  as  it  was  known,  four 
members  of  the  court  (one  refusing  to  sign)  and 
the  Judge  Advocate  petitioned  General  Williams  to 
change  his  order,  claiming  that  the  offense  was  not 
at  all  commensurate  with  the  penalty  he  imposed. 
This  he  refused  to  do,  saying  that  it  was  necessary 


ioo      Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

to  make  an  example  in  order  to  stop  it.  His  orders 
were  executed  the  next  morning. 

When  in  the  neighborhood  of  Roger  sville,  Tenn., 
General  Williams  received  an  order  from  General 
Breckenridge,  at  Saltville,  Va.,  to  hasten  there  with 
his  command,  as  General  Burbridge  was  marching 
on  the  place  with  a  view  of  destroying  it.  This  was 
the  chief  salt  supply  for  the  Southern  States.  We 
passed  through  Bristol  and  Abingdon,  Va.,  and 
reached  Saltville  in  the  nick  of  time,  for  General 
Giltner,  with  his  brigade,  was  skirmishing  with  the 
Federals  when  we  came  upon  the  field. 

General  Breckenridge's  force  at  Saltville  consisted 
of  Giltner's  small  brigade  of  cavalry,  some  cadets 
from  the  Military  Institute  in  Virginia,  workmen 
about  the  salt  works,  and  the  cavalry  command  of 
Gen.  "Cerro  Gordo"  Williams,  numbering  altogether 
about  three  thousand  men.  Burbridge  had  a  well- 
equipped  command  that  considerably  outnumbered 
the  Confederates.  The  Fourth  and  Eighth  Tennes 
see  were  assigned  to  a  position  on  a  somewhat  elevat 
ed  knoll,  in  rather  an  advanced  position  in  the  line, 
and  received  the  first  onset  of  the  enemy.  They  were 
slow  in  approaching  the  line,  and  our  men  went  for 
ward  to  meet  them.  The  cry  was  raised  that  we 
were  fighting  negroes.  They  were  the  first  we  had 
ever  met.  Many  of  them  were  killed  and  wounded. 
There  was  fighting  all  along  the  line,  continuing  for 
three  hours  or  more,  when  Burbridge  was  driven  off 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.' ' '  ibi 

and  commenced  to  retreat.  About  six  hundred  on 
both  sides  were  killed  and  wounded.  This  field  pre 
sented  a  scene  that  was  never  witnessed  before. 
There  were  more  dead  men  than  wounded.  We  lost 
some  of  our  best  soldiers. 

That  night  we  pursued  the  enemy,  passing  over 
the  mountain  to  a  gap  with  the  view  of  cutting  them 
off.  They  had  to  travel  over  a  distance  of  forty 
miles  on  a  well-built  macadamized  road.  The  moun 
tain  path  to  the  gap  was  only  twelve  miles  in  length, 
and  the  men  had  to  dismount  and  lead  their  horses. 
The  night  was  very  dark,  and  it  was  hard  to  discern 
the  path.  Occasionally  a  horse  would  make  a  mis 
step  and  tumble  down  the  steep  mountain  side, 
when  you  could  hear  the  noise  of  falling  stones  for 
minutes  afterwards  as  they  rolled  down  and  down 
the  precipitate  mountain  side.  There  was  nothing 
for  the  soldiers  to  do  but  sit  clown  till  daylight  near 
the  track  the  column  made.  We  were  told  after 
wards  by  some  of  these  soldiers  that  they  found  their 
horses  miles  below  where  they  fell.  I  have  occasion 
ally  met  an  old  soldier  who  was  at  Saltville,  and 
about  the  first  thing  he  would  speak  of  would  be : 
"Did  you  ever  experience  anything  like  that  dark 
night  ride  at  Saltville,  Va.  ?  And  the  wonder  is  that 
a  number  of  men  were  not  dashed  to  pieces  down  the 
steep  mountain  side."  We  reached  the  gap  at  day 
light.  Burbridge's  rear  guard  was  passing  through, 
and  we  killed  and  wounded  a  few  of  them.  We 


IO2  : :  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

asked  an  old  citizen  if  any  one  had  ever  traveled  over 
the  pathway  before.  He  replied :  "Occasionally  I 
have  seen  citizens  going  over  it  and  coming  back 
with  a  bag  of  salt  on  a  lead  horse,  but  nobody  that 
I  have  ever  heard  of  would  dare  to  do  so  at  night 
time.  It  is  a  wonder  that  half  of  you  were  not 
killed." 

When  General  Williams  left  Sparta  for  the  Army 
of  Tennessee,  at  Atlanta,  all  of  the  independents  and 
bushwhackers  in  that  part  of  the  State  went  out 
with  him.  It  got  so  hot  thereabout,  and  the  Feder 
als  were  swarming  so  in  Tennessee  (like  bees),  that 
they  concluded  the  better  part  of  valor  was  to  get 
away.  Champ  Ferguson,  of  the  one  side,  and  Dave 
Beatty,  of  the  other,  both,  I  believe,  from  Fentress 
County,  were  the  respective  leaders.  A  warfare  had 
been  raging  in  this  part  of  the  State  and  Southern 
Kentucky  since  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  some 
outrageous  murders  had  been  perpetrated  upon  citi 
zens  as  well  as  soldiers.  The  name  of  each  was  a 
terror  to  one  side  or  the  other.  Champ  Ferguson 
and  his  followers  participated  actively  at  Saltville. 
After  the  battle  was  over  a  Lieutenant  Smith,  of 
the  Federal  army,  was  left  with  others  wounded. 
He  was  taken  to  Emory  and  Henry  College,  which 
was  made  a  hospital  for  both  armies.  When  Fergu 
son  heard  the  fact,  he  went  over  there  and  killed 
Lieutenant  Smith.  It  was  said  that  Smith  had  dur 
ing  the  war  killed  a  Colonel  Hamilton,  who  was  a 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.       103 

comrade,  neighbor,  and  personal  friend  of  Fergu 
son;  that  Smith  had  captured  Hamilton  after  a 
fight  between  members  of  the  two  clans,  and  had 
been  ordered  with  a  squad  of  soldiers  to  take  him  to 
headquarters  over  in  Kentucky ;  but  that,  after  start 
ing  with  his  prisoner  and  going  a  short  distance,  he 
ordered  his  men  to  take  Hamilton  to  the  side  of  the 
public  road,  where  he  was  stood  up  by  a  tree  and 
shot  to  death. 

A  short  time  after  the  Confederates  had  returned 
from  the  surrender,  in  May,  1865,  Ferguson,  who 
had  surrendered  to  the  Federals,  was  undergoing 
trial  by  court-martial  at  Nashville.  He  had  been 
arrested  at  Saltville,  Va.,  by  order  of  General  Wil 
liams  for  the  alleged  killing  of  Smith  and  sent  to 
Richmond,  as  we  understood  it,  and  we  saw  him  no 
more  afterwards.  The  war  terminated  a  short  time 
after  this.  I  presume  in  the  confusion  of  things  he 
was  permitted  to  return  to  his  home  in  Tennessee. 
I  was  told  that  frequent  attempts  had  been  made  to 
capture  him;  but  finally,  after  being  advised  and  on 
being  assured  by  Federal  authority  that  if  he  would 
surrender  he  would  be  given  the  same  terms  that 
had  been  extended  to  other  Confederates,  he  gave 
up.  After  this  he  was  placed  on  trial  by  a  military 
court-martial  on  various  charges  of  murder.  Among 
others  was  the  charge  of  the  murder  of  Lieutenant 
Smith  at  Emory  and  Henry  College,  in  Virginia. 
He  was  convicted  and  executed  by  hanging  at  Nash- 


104       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

ville.  I  do  not  approve  of  the  murder  of  Lieutenant 
Smith,  nor  do  I  approve  of  the  promises  made  Fer 
guson  to  induce  him  to  surrender;  for  if  half  is  true 
that  I  have  heard  about  Ferguson,  he  certainly  had 
his  grievances. 

Before  leaving  Saltville  for  the  army,  General 
Williams  was  ordered  under  arrest  and  directed  to 
report  at  the  headquarters  of  the  corps  to  answer  the 
charge  oi  his  failure  to  join  General  Wheeler  while 
in  Middle  Tennessee.  We  moved  through  Bristol 
and  down  to  Jonesboro,  Tenn.,  where  we  turned 
and  passed  over  the  mountains  dividing  Tennessee 
and  North  Carolina  to  Ashe ville,  thence  to  Green 
ville,  S.  C.,  thence  to  Athens,  Ga.,  and  across  to  At 
lanta. 

General  Hood  fought  battles  on  the  22d  and 
28th  of  July  at  Atlanta  and  then  at  Love  joy's  Sta 
tion  and  Jonesboro,  Ga.  They  were  large  and  hotly 
contested  battles,  with  heavy  losses  on  both  sides,  but 
without  material  effect.  He  and  General  Sherman 
agreed  and  exchanged  what  prisoners  either  had  of 
the  other. 

After  this  General  Hood  began  his  campaign  into 
Middle  Tennessee.  General  Dibrell  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  forces  lately  commanded  by  General 
Williams.  He  started  at  once  to  overtake  General 
Hood;  but  after  about  two  days'  marching  we  met 
General  Wheeler  with  his  command  returning  to 
Atlanta,  with  instructions  to  remain  there  and  watch 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       105 

the  movements  of  General  Sherman  and  follow  him 
in  whatever  direction  he  might  take.  Dibrell  also 
returned  to  Atlanta  with  Wheeler,  making  their 
joint  commands  about  3,000  cavalry.  As  soon  as  he 
had  ascertained  that  Hood  was  moving  into  Mid 
dle  Tennessee,  Sherman  began  his  march  to  Savan 
nah,  Ga.  His  army  was  composed  of  64,000  infan 
try,  a  large  artillery  corps,  and  5,000  cavalry  un 
der  General  Kilpatrick. 

The  distance  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah  is  about 
two  hundred  miles — about  the  distance  that  Nash 
ville  is  from  Memphis.  Sherman's  line  of  march 
was  along  the  Savannah  River,  giving  full  protection 
to  his  left  ( for  it  is  a  large,  deep  river) .  Along  the 
river  a  strip  of  rich  country  extends  forty  miles 
out  into  the  State  of  Georgia.  The  large  crops  of 
rice,  cotton,  corn,  and  potatoes  were  ripened  and 
ready  to  be  gathered  into  houses.  No  one  ever  saw 
a  more  enchanting  country,  and  the  despoiler  had 
never  left  his  track  upon  the  soil  before.  The  sec 
tion  was  thickly  settled  at  the  time  by  old  men,  wom 
en,  and  children,  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  peace 
and  plenty,  with  no  means  of  defense,  for  the  men 
and  boys  of  legal  age  were  all  away  from  home  in 
the  army.  Sherman  marched  through  a  country 
forty  miles  in  breadth  with  his  great  army,  with 
nothing  to  hinder  his  burning  and  pillaging  but  about 
3,000  cavalry,  as  we  have  stated.  He  left  it,  when 
he  reached  Savannah,  a  long,  black,  charred  waste 


io6       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

of  country  that  a  bird  could  hardly  have  subsisted 
upon.  Sherman  spoke  from  experience  and  obser 
vation  when  he  said :  "War  is  hell." 

When  Sherman  with  his  large  army  of  over  70,000 
marched  out  oi  Atlanta,  Wheeler's  small  force  of 
cavalry  commenced  at  once  to  skirmish  with  his  ad 
vance  guard,  and  did  so  until  he  reached  Savannah, 
with  an  occasional  battle  with  Kilpatrick's  cavalry, 
invariably  driving  him  back  upon  the  infantry  sup 
port  and  circumscribing  as  much  as  possible  the  pil 
laging  of  Sherman's  army.  It  is  said  that  Sherman 
deliberately  prepared  for  all  of  this  before  com 
mencing  his  march  by  mounting  a  considerable  num 
ber  of  his  infantry  upon  horseback,  under  officers 
and  in  companies,  to  do  the  pillaging  and  burning, 
his  cavalry  protecting  and  covering  their  front  while 
so  engaged.  It  certainly  was  evident  that  his  men 
were  systematically  organized  beforehand  for  this 
purpose. 

After  a  few  days'  march,  Kilpatrick  with  his  cav 
alry  made  a  dash  for  Macon,  Ga,,  with  the  view  of 
destroying  the  public  works  of  the  Confederates, 
which  had  been  extensively  established  in  that  city. 
Wheeler  at  once  pursued,  heading  him  off  at  the 
village  of  Griswoldville,  some  seven  miles  from 
Macon.  A  portion  of  the  Georgia  militia  was  occu 
pying  the  place  when  we  came  up ;  and  when  Kilpat 
rick  appeared,  a  fight  ensued  lasting  some  hours. 
The  militia  fought  like  veterans,  which  convinced  us 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       107 

that  if  Johnston  had  been  permitted  to  place  them 
in  the  fortifications  around  Atlanta  when  he  pro 
posed  to  lead  his  entire  army  against  Sherman's 
flank,  he  would  never  have  been  removed ;  for  they 
would  have  held  the  forts  and  breastworks  as  a  safe 
retreat  for  his  infantry,  had  they  failed  upon  the 
flank  of  the  enemy.  After  a  fight  lasting  some  hours, 
Kilpatrick  was  driven  off  with  loss.  Wheeler's,  as 
well  as  the  militia's,  loss  was  considerable.  I  know, 
that  the  Fourth  Tennessee  lost  a  number  of  their 
best  soldiers.  Kilpatrick  soon  afterwards  made  a 
move  toward  Augusta,  presumably  for  the  same 
purpose  as  at  Macon;  but  General  Wheeler,  ever  on 
the  alert,  headed  him  off  by  a  night  ride  and  saved 
the  city. 

After  this  we  came  up  with  Kilpatrick  at  Waynes- 
boro,  Ga.  It  was  a  dense,  foggy  morning,  so  much 
so  that  you  could  hardly  discern  the  form  of  a  man 
fifty  feet  ahead.  We  at  once  attacked  them  in  a  large 
field  near  the  town  in  a  very  mixed-up  fight,  in  which 
we  killed  and  wounded  many  and  took  many  prison 
ers,  losing  quite  a  number  ourselves.  In  the  midst 
of  the  battle,  with  balls  whizzing  in  every  direction, 
I  came  across  a  squad  of  our  men  who  had  taken  as 
prisoners  four  of  the  enemy.  They  were  threaten 
ing  to  kill  them,  when  I  remonstrated  and  told  them 
to  turn  them  over  to  the  rear  guard  near  by.  Just 
then  an  officer  of  higher  rank  rode  up.  I  appealed 
to  him,  telling  him  that  the  soldiers  proposed  killing 


io8       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

them.  His  only  reply  was :  "They  know  best  what 
to  do  with  them."  As  I  rode  off  into  the  fight,  I 
heard  the  popping  of  the  pistols,  and  I  could  see  the 
prisoners  tumbling  over  into  the  high  sage.  I  had 
not  proceeded  far  when  I  noticed  this  officer  reel 
from  his  saddle  with  a  shot  in  his  arm.  I  could  not 
help  saying  to  myself  :  "I  wish  it  had  been  your  head 
shot  off."  It  would  be  proper  here  to  say  that  many 
most  outrageous  transactions  were  done  by  the  Fed 
erals  as  they  passed  through  Waynesboro,  and  these 
were  told  to  the  men.  It  was  enough  to  excite  to 
vengeance;  but  nothing  can  excuse  the  killing  of 
prisoners  after  capture,  as  was  done  in  this  case. 

Later  in  the  day  we  came  upon  Kilpatrick  at  or 
near  Buckhead  Church,  where  he  had  intrenched  his 
command  behind  a  long  line  of  fence  that  ( we  after 
wards  ascertained)  extended  from  swamp  to  swamp, 
covering  his  entire  front.  General  Wheeler  ordered 
General  Dibrell  to  proceed  to  the  left  flank  of  the 
enemy  and  to  attack  them,  saying  that  the  firing  of 
his  guns  would  be  a  signal  for  him  to  charge  the' 
line  of  fence  with  the  remainder  of  his  force.  The 
signal  was  given  by  Dibrell,  but  probably  before 
the  exact  situation  was  observed  by  him,  and  Wheel 
er  charged  with  his  entire  force  mounted.  In  fifteen 
minutes  Wheeler  had  many  of  his  men  killed  and 
wounded,  losing  more  horses  than  in  any  battle  dur 
ing  the  war.  Of  course  this  created  confusion  for 
a  little  while  when  we  went  over  the  works,  but  the 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.       109 

enemy  had  mounted  their  horses  and  were  making 
for  their  infantry  force,  which  was  but  a  short  dis 
tance  off.  This  was  one  battle  in  which  there  could 
be  no  doubt  that  our  loss  was  greater  than  that  of 
the  enemy.  There  could  be  no  controversy  over  this. 
There  was  picked  up  on  the  field  an  officer's  military 
cap  indicating  high  rank.  It  was  supposed  to  be 
Kilpatrick's,  and  General  Wheeler  returned  it  to  him 
with  his  compliments. 

It  would  be  a  difficult  undertaking  to  relate  any 
thing  like  the  destruction  of  property  accomplished 
in  the  "march  to  the  sea"  by  Sherman's  men.  Every 
rice  and  grist  mill  was  burned,  as  well  as  cotton  gins, 
barns  of  corn,  and  fields  of  potatoes  destroyed;  and 
in  some  instances  dwelling  houses,  if  not  burned, 
were  stripped  of  their  contents,  which  were  removed 
or  burned.  Fine  carpets  were  torn  from  the  floors, 
and  men  were  permitted  to  take  them  for  saddle 
blankets.  Provisions  of  all  kinds — hay,  corn,  etc. — 
were  destroyed.  I  have  seen  smokehouses  with  the 
meat  all  appropriated  and  barrels  of  molasses  poured 
out  on  the  floor  and  mixed  with  salt  and  ashes  to  de 
stroy  its  use.  I  have  seen,  time  and  again,  long  rows 
of  dead  horses  numbering  from  thirty  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty.  Upon  taking  every  mule  and  horse  that 
the  citizens  had,  they  would  kill  their  own,  not  leav 
ing  the  citizens  as  much  as  a  half-dead  mule.  At 
night  you  could  tell  exactly  the  position  of  their  army 
by  the  light  of  burning  houses,  and  during  the  day  by 


no       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

the  black  smoke  that  hung  over  their  line  of  march. 
It  was  as  if  there  had  been  a  great  spring  cleaning, 
and  the  whole  atmosphere  was  thick  with  it.  Sher 
man's  line  of  march  was  well  defined  by  cinders  and 
burning  debris.  In  his  report  of  this  march  he  says : 

We  consumed  the  corn  and  fodder  in  the  region  of  country 
thirty  miles  on  each  side  of  a  line  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah; 
also  the  sweet  potatoes,  hogs,  sheep,  and  poultry,  and  carried 
off  more  than  ten  thousand  horses  and  mules.  I  estimate  the 
damage  done  to  the  State  of  Georgia  at  one  hundred  million 
dollars  at  least,  twenty  millions  of  which  inured  to  our  benefit, 
and  the  remainder  was  just  simply  waste  and  destruction. 

Henry  Grady,  then  a  resident  of  Atlanta,  in  his 
great  speech  before  the  New  England  Society,  of 
New  York  City,  in  speaking  of  General  Sherman  a 
few  years  after  the  war,  said :  "You  people  up  here 
think  he  is  a  great  general,  but  down  our  way  we 
think  he  is  too  fond  of  meddling  with  fire."  The 
speaker  doubtless  thought  of  saying:  "Not  till  the 
chapter  on  his  march  to  the  sea  is  eliminated  from 
his  record  as  a  soldier  and  its  black  and  dark  crim 
inality  is  eradicated  from  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
the  Southern  people  can  we  agree  to  this." 

The  first  and  greatest  object  of  a  general  is  to 
crush  and  destroy  all  armed  opposition  to  constituted 
authority.  Why,  then,  was  it  that  Sherman  did  not 
turn  and  follow  Hood  into  Middle  Tennessee  when 
he  and  Thomas,  who  had  a  large  army  at  Nashville, 
could  have  crushed  the  little  army  of  General  Hood, 
as  it  were,  between  the  upper  and  nether  millstones 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  'Regiment.       in 

and  thus  end  the  war — anyhow  in  the  Middle  West? 
There  was  nothing  O'f  the  strategic  in  the  movement. 
Was  it  not  a  wanton  and  unnecessary  destruction  of 
the  property  of  an  unarmed  and  helpless  community 
and  the  making  homeless  and  breadless  the  families 
of  old  men,  women,  and  children?  Will  not  the 
student  of  the  truth  of  history  in  after  years  so 
conclude  as  he  reads  with  surprise  the  report  of  an 
American  general  who  has  had  the  temerity  to  con 
firm  the  facts  under  his  own  signature  ? 

We  continued  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  cir 
cumscribing  their  burning  and  pillaging  until  we 
reached  the  vicinity  of  Savannah.  Shifting  to  the 
front  of  Sherman,  we  reached  Savannah  before  he 
did.  His  march  was  slow,  taking  about  four  or 
five  weeks,  giving  full  time  to  his  soldiers  for  the 
work  they  had  set  out  to  accomplish.  General  Har- 
dee  was  occupying  a  line  of  intrenchment  in  the 
front,  his  force  consisting  of  detachments  (includ 
ing  seamen,  workmen  from  the  public  shops,  etc.) 
numbering  altogether  a  few  thousand.  General 
Wheeler  with  his  command  took  position  in  the  outer 
breastworks.  About  this  time  Fort  McAllister,  on 
the  coast  below  there,  had  fallen.  A  large  force  of 
the  enemy  were  marching  up  to  join  Sherman,  but 
before  they  reached  there  General  Hardee  very  wise 
ly  concluded  to  abandon  the  place,  which  he  did  by 
crossing  the  Savannah  River  into  South  Carolina. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  SOUTH  CAROLINA  CAMPAIGN. 

GEN.  WADE  HAMPTON  assumed  command  as 
chief  of  cavalry,  although  General  Wheeler  retained 
command  of  his  old  corps.  The  Fourth  Tennessee 
was  sent  up  the  east  side  of  the  Savannah  River  to 
protect  the  citizens  and  prevent  the  destruction  of  a 
large  number  of  rice  mills.  Their  first  station  was 
at  the  plantation  of  Dr.  Chisholm,  about  thirty  miles 
above  Savannah,  where  we  remained  several  days. 

The  large  rice  mill  immediately  on  the  Savannah 
River  was  an  immense  frame  structure,  four  sto 
ries  in  height,  and  afforded  an  unobstructed  view  of 
the  country  on  the  other  side,  including  Sherman's 
line  of  march  to  Savannah.  The  smoldering  debris 
of  mills  from  which  smoke  was  ascending  could  be 
seen.  There  were  two  or  three  crops  of  rice  in  the 
mill,  to  which  we  were  told  to  help  ourselves,  for  the 
sheaves  of  rice  made  fine  feed  for  our  horses  after 
placing  it  in  water  the  night  before.  While  here  the 
enemy  made  several  attempts  to  cross  the  river,  but 
were  repulsed.  After  we  had  been  there  several 
days,  at  nightfall  a  young  soldier  rode  up  to  our 
camp  fire  with  a  lady  (whom  we  presumed  to  be  his 
mother)  riding  behind  him  on  his  horse.  The  young 
man  said  that  he  had  been  informed  that  we  had 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       113 

orders  to  leave  that  night.  When  we  informed  him 
that  we  had  and  expected  to  leave  at  daylight  the 
next  morning,  he  and  the  lady  had  a  consultation 
and,  approaching  the  camp  fire,  removed  a  lighted 
fagot  and,  going  over  to  the  mill,  applied  the  torch 
and  burned  the  mill  and  its  contents,  which  we  were 
told  was  worth  half  a  million  dollars.  The  only 
word  he  spoke  afterwards  was  that  they  had  "con 
cluded  to  burn  it  rather  than  leave  that  pleasure  to 
the  Yankees." 

At  Aiken,  S.  C,  we  had  quite  a  battle  with  the 
enemy.  We  had  just  reached  the  place  when  a  large 
force  unexpectedly  appeared  at  the  foot  of  one  of 
their  broad  and  beautiful  streets.  \Ve  charged  them 
at  once  and  drove  them  back  into  the  suburbs,  where 
we  fought  for  an  hour,  finally  driving  them  off  with 
loss.  We,  too,  lost  a  few  men,  among  whom  was 
Jo  Rushing,  of  Company  E,  He  was  a  relative  of 
our  much  esteemed  and  most  efficient  Sergt.  Maj. 
W.  A.  Rushing,  who  remained  with  his  relative  till 
he  died  a  few  days  afterwards.  Our  Sergeant  Ma 
jor  is  still  living,  as  honorable  and  worthy  a  citizen 
as  he  made  a  brave  and  sturdy  soldier  during  the 
war.  He  has  been  the  representative  of  his  constit 
uency  in  the  State  Legislature. 

After  reaching  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  it 

seemed  as  if  the  enemy  were  invading  the  State  from 

all  directions — north,  south,  east,  and  west.     It  was 

a  difficult  matter  to  calculate  when  and  where  we 

8 


H4       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

would  meet  the  next  marching  column.  We  would 
meet  and  check  them  temporarily,  when  we  would 
be  threatened  by  another.  It  seemed  that  the  enemy 
were  making  an  effort  to  cover  every  community  in 
the  whole  State,  still  exhibiting  their  propensity  to 
burn  and  destroy.  I  remember  having  seen  some 
correspondence  between  General  Sherman  and  Gen 
eral  Hampton  that  appeared  in  some  of  the  local  pa 
pers.  Sherman  had  sent  a  note  to  Hampton  inform 
ing  him  that  if  his  men  murdered  any  more  of  his 
after  they  had  surrendered  he  would  retaliate  by 
killing  a  like  number  of  his  prisoners.  Hampton 
replied  that  when  his  men  found  the  enemy  burning 
the  houses  of  citizens,  as  they  were  in  the  cases  re 
ferred  to  by  him  in  his  note,  when  the  women  of 
the  house  were  following  his  soldiers  through  the 
rooms,  putting  out  the  fire  they  had  thrown  upon  the 
beds  and  other  inflammable  objects,  no  orders  would 
restrain  them;  and  to  Sherman's  threat  to  retaliate 
Hampton  replied  that  he  would  kill  two  of  his  sol 
diers  for  every  one  he  executed.  I  heard  no  more 
of  the  correspondence,  but  must  say  that  the  enemy's 
destruction  still  continued. 

We  moved  across  the  State  to  the  eastern  shore, 
where  we  had  frequent  skirmishes  with  the  enemy, 
sometimes  with  parties  who  would  come  ashore 
from  their  blockading  ships,  notably  from  a  point 
that  we  called  the  Summer  House.  Late  in  Decem 
ber,  1864,  we  found  ourselves  at  Graham ville,  S.  C., 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.       115 

about  forty  miles  below  Charleston.  I  remember 
that  we  spent  Christmas  day  there.  A  few  days 
before  General  Wheeler  gave  the  men  permission  to 
go  to  the  coast  and  get  the  wagons  filled  with  oys 
ters  in  the  shell,  which  we  did.  I  suppose  that  was 
the  first  time  an  army  was  feasted  upon  oysters. 
The  soldiers  would  sit  out  in  the  open  before  a 
log-heap  fire,  throw  the  shells  into  the  fire,  toast 
them  sufficiently,  then  break  them  open  and  eat 
the  delicious  bivalve.  This  reminded  us  of  Christ 
mas  time  before  the  war,  "when  life  ran  high  and 
without  a  ripple  upon  its  surface  to  disturb  its  hap 
piness."  It  was  there  that  we  learned  for  the  first 
time  of  General  Hood's  disastrous  campaign  into 
Middle  Tennessee. 

General  Hood  marched  to  Sherman's  rear  at  At 
lanta,  Ga.,  and,  going  north  along  the  railroad,  at 
tacked  the  Federals  at  Allatoona,  Ga.,  in  a  well-forti 
fied  fortress,  with  General  Cockrell's  brigade,  who, 
after  a  most  gallant  fight,  was  repulsed  with  heavy 
loss.  Hood  then  deflected  to  the  left  and  north, 
reaching  the  Tennessee  River  at  or  near  Decatur, 
Ala.  Crossing  the  river,  he  moved  north,  passing 
through  Mt.  Pleasant  and  on  to  Columbia,  Tenn. 
There,  after  considerable  cannonading  and  musket 
ry,  he  flanked  the  place  and,  reaching  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Spring  Hill,  stopped  for  the  night.  He 
gave  specific  orders  to  attack  the  enemy  if  they 
attempted  to  move  along  the  pike  toward  Nashville. 


n6      Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

General  Hood,  in  his  book  of  campaigns  that  he  has 
written  styled  "Advance  and  Retreat,"  says  that 
"General  Frank  Cheatham  was  assigned  to  this  duty, 
which  he  failed  to  do,  and  the  enemy  was  permitted 
to  pass  on  to  Franklin  without  interruption.1'  This 
has  been  denied  in  most  positive  terms  by  General 
Cheatham  and  his  friends.  Many  strong  articles 
have  been  written  by  soldiers  whose  opportunities  to 
know  were  good,  denying  the  fact  as  charged. 

The  next  morning  Hood  resumed  his  march. 
Upon  reaching  Franklin,  eighteen  miles  from  Nash 
ville,  he  found  the  enemy  strongly  intrenched  behind 
a  long  line  of  breastworks.  He  immediately  made 
his  preparations  to  attack  across  an  open  field  where 
one  would  conclude  that  a  bird  could  not  have  sur 
vived  the  storm  of  shot  and  shell  that  swept  across 
it.  The  divisions  of  Cleburne,  Cheatham,  Stewart, 
Bate,  and  Brown  with  their  brave  soldiers  charged 
up  to  the  enemy's  breastworks,  some  of  them  reach 
ing  them  and  others  going  over  them.  They  had 
done  all  that  mortal  strength  and  bravery  could  do, 
but  had  failed.  Men  were  shot  down  on  the  field  of 
Franklin,  and  while  they  lay  in  a  helpless  condition 
were  shot  again,  some  of  them  as  many  as  three  or 
four  times.  In  a  few  moments  General  Hood  had 
lost  several  thousand  of  his  soldiers.  More  general 
officers  were  killed  and  wounded  at  Franklin  than  in 
any  battle  of  our  War  between  the  States.  Five  of 
his  generals  were  killed.  Gen.  Pat  Cleburne  was 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       117 

killed  within  a  few  feet  of  the  works,  with  many  of 
his  division.  Brigadier  General  Stahl,  with  his  horse, 
was  found  dead  on  top  of  the  enemy's  works.  Brig 
adier  Generals  Granbery,  Carter,  and  Adams  were 
also  killed,  and  five  or  six  other  generals  were  wound 
ed.  A  more  daring  exhibition  of  soldiers'  courage 
was  never  made  on  any  field  or  by  any  army  than 
that  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee  at  Franklin  on  that 
chilly  afternoon  in  November,  1864.  General  Hood 
was  an  eyewitness  to  all  this,  and  I  regretted  and 
was  surprised  to  read  in  his  book  the  assertion  that 
the  Army  of  Tennessee  had  been  so  accustomed  to 
fighting  behind  breastworks  under  General  Johnston 
that  they  would  not  fight  any  other  way.  It  is  char 
itable  to  conclude  that  this  was  made  while  he  was 
laboring  under  the  sore  disappointment  occasioned  by 
the  failure  to  obey  his  orders  at  Spring  Hill  the  night 
before,  to  attack  the  enemy  if  they  attempted  to  move 
from  Columbia.  A  Federal  officer  who  commanded 
a  brigade  at  Franklin,  and  now  a  member  of  Con 
gress,  General  Sherwood,  took  occasion  to  say  at 
the  funeral  obsequies  of  the  late  Gen.  G.  W.  Gor 
don,  Representative  from  the  Tenth  District  of  Ten 
nessee  :  "Franklin  was  the  fiercest,  the  bloodiest,  and 
the  most  signal  battle  of  the  entire  war." 

The  war  histories  tell  us  more  of  the  two  days' 
battle  at  Nashville,  fifteen  days  later;  but  Nashville 
was  a  dress  parade  compared  to  Franklin.  I  was 
at  the  front  in  both  battles.  General  Gordon  was  a 


n8       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

brigadier  general  in  command  of  a  brigade  at  Frank 
lin,  and  he  was  abreast  of  the  front  line  of  bayonets 
in  that  mad,  wild,  desperate  charge.  He  was  wound 
ed  and  captured  on  the  Federal  breastworks.  I  quote 
the  following  from  Colonel  Vance's  war  history : 
"There  was  greater  loss,  greater  sacrifice,  and  more 
bloody  fighting  on  the  part  of  old  Frank  Cheat- 
ham's  men  on  that  beautiful  Wednesday  afternoon, 
November  30,  1864,  than  took  place  on  any  field  of 
the  Crimean  War.  While  thirty-seven  per  cent  of 
Lord  Cardigan's  673  men  were  killed  or  wounded 
in  the  memorable  charge  of  the  600  at  Balaklava, 
more  than  half  of  General  Cleburne's  and  Brown's 
divisions  were  left  dead  or  wounded  in  the  fields  and 
gardens  of  that  little  Tennessee  town."  In  summing 
up,  General  Sherwood  said :  "More  generals  were 
killed  and  wounded  in  that  six  hours'  struggle  in 
front  of  Franklin  than  were  killed  and  wounded  in 
the  two  days'  fight  at  Chickamauga  or  the  three 
days'  fight  at  Gettysburg,  where  three  times  as  many 
soldiers  were  engaged.  I  have  seen  many  battle 
fields,  but  never  saw  evidence  of  so  terrible  a  conflict 
as  at  Franklin."  I  am  glad  that  I  have  been  able 
to  use  what  General  Sherwood  has  so  truthfully, 
forcibly,  and  recently  said  in  refutation  of  what 
General  Hood  has  so  unfortunately  and  unthought- 
edly  said  in  regard  to  the  Army  of  Tennessee. 

The  Federals  evacuated  Franklin  that  night,  fall 
ing  back  to  Nashville,  where  General  Thomas  had 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.       119 

collected  a  large  army.  General  Hood  followed  in 
a  few  days,  and  by  the  I5th  of  December  had 
placed  his  little  army  in  front  of  Nashville,  when  a 
two  days'  battle  ensued.  It  is  sufficient  to  add  here 
that  after  some  hard  fighting  on  the  different  parts 
of  the  long  line  presented  by  the  Federals  the  Con 
federate  lines  were  broken,  and  they  were  driven 
from  the  field  in  disorder. 

The  weather  was  exceedingly  cold,  creating  much 
suffering  among  the  soldiers.  They  were  thinly  clad, 
and  many  were  barefooted,  leaving  bloody  foot 
prints  upon  the  frozen  ground.  Many  of  them  went 
to  their  homes  to  get  clothing,  some  of  whom  never 
joined  their  columns  again.  Nothing  like  a  vigorous 
pursuit  was  made,  except  between  Pulaski  and  the 
Tennessee  River.  Quite  a  battle  was  had  between 
the  Confederates  under  Generals  Walthall  and  For 
rest  and  the  advance  guard  of  the  enemy,  in  which 
the  Federals  were  driven  back  with  heavy  loss. 

General  Hood  crossed  the  Tennessee  River  near 
Corinth,  Miss.,  with  his  broken  and  disorganized 
troops.  In  a  short  while  he  tendered  his  resignation, 
and  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston  was  again  called  to  the 
command  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee.  Thus  General 
Johnston  was  reinstated  by  the  same  authority  that 
had  so  summarily  dismissed  him  a  few  months  be 
fore.  If  anything  could  have  relieved  the  gloom  that 
was  hanging  over  that  army  then,  it  was  the  rein 
stating  of  General  Johnston. 


I2O       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Gen.  John  B.  Hood  was  a  brave  and  gallant  officer. 
None  made  more  reputation  than  he  did  while  in 
command  of  a  division  in  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia.  He  had  resigned  from  the  United  States 
army.  He  was  elected  colonel  of  the  Fourth  Texas 
Infantry,  which  was  among  the  first  troops  that  were 
hastened  to  Richmond  on  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war.  He  served  through  all  the  campaigns  and  bat 
tles  of  Virginia  till  he  came  with  Longstreet  to 
Chickamauga  on  the  second  and  last  day  of  that  great 
battle,  September  20,  1863.  His  division  and  that  of 
General  McLaws,  numbering  less  than  ten  thousand, 
were  all  the  troops  of  General  Longstreet' s  Corps 
that  arrived  in  time.  He  lost  a  leg  at  Chickamauga ; 
and  as  soon  as  he  had  convalesced  sufficiently  he  was 
given  the  rank  of  lieutenant  general  and  assigned  to 
the  Army  of  Tennessee,  which  was  then  at  Dalton, 
Ga.,  commanded  by  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  just 
before  the  opening  of  the  Atlanta  campaign  by  Gen 
eral  Sherman.  I  do  not  think  that  he  was  of  the 
temperament  to  command  an  army  or  direct  its 
campaigns.  He  was  a  tall,  handsome  man  of  com 
manding  appearance,  fully  six  feet  in  height,  before 
he  lost  his  leg.  I  have  heard  his  couriers  say  that  he 
would  never  dismount  in  battle,  but  would  frequently 
call  upon  his  staff  and  couriers  to  do  so  when  balls 
were  falling  thick  and  fast  about  them.  It  was  nec 
essary  for  the  commanding  general  to  remain  sta 
tionary  close  up  to  the  battle  line  in  order  to  receive 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       121 

and  give  the  necessary  orders  as  the  fight  progressed. 
At  such  times  he  would  sit  on  his  horse  as  calm  and 
serene  as  though  he  were  viewing  a  dress  parade. 
Some  years  ago  General  Hood  died  in  New  Orleans 
of  yellow  fever.  He  had  been  in  successful  business 
there  since  the  close  of  the  war,  and  died  one  of  its 
best  and  most  respected  citizens. 

But  to  recur  to  the  encampment  of  General  Wheel 
er's  command  at  Grahamville,  S.  C.  We  had  not 
exhausted  our  Christmas  supply  of  oysters  before 
the  enemy  became  very  busy  again,  and  we  were 
ordered  away  to  meet  them.  We  had  some  fights 
at  Pocotaligo  and  other  places.  They  gradually 
forced  us  to  the  north  and  west.  When  we  reached 
Columbia,  they  were  hot  on  our  track. 

I  have  seen  some  controversy  in  late  years  about 
a  fight  that  was  had  at  a  bridge  on  that  side  of  the 
river.  I  do  not  remember  about  this;  but  I  do  re 
member  passing  over  the  bridge  and  going  into  the 
city,  when  the  Fourth  Tennessee  was  detailed  as 
provost  guard.  We  remained  there  all  night,  pa 
trolling  the  place,  with  orders  to  leave  at  daylight, 
which  we  did.  There  was  considerable  excitement 
among  the  citizens ;  and  at  the  depot,  where  we  had 
a  picket,  a  large  amount  of  household  goods  were 
awaiting  transportation.  When  we  left,  everything 
was  quiet  and  orderly.  Very  few  stragglers  were 
found  in  the  city,  and  we  had  them  move  on  ahead 
of  the  command.  The  enemy  came  into  the  city  as 


122       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

we  moved  out.  We  took  the  road  leading  north. 
When  we  had  gone  probably  a  mile  from  the  cor 
poration  line,  I  looked  back  and  saw  dense  smoke 
arising  from  the  city.  I  remember  that  the  sun  was 
rising  at  this  time.  As  we  went  on  we  could  see  the 
smoke  thickening,  and  I  supposed  then,  as  I  have 
concluded  since,  that  Sherman's  men  did  the  burning, 
as  it  was  in  "accordance"  with  their  purpose  and  acts 
after  leaving  Atlanta.  It  may  be  added  that  this  has 
been  a  matter  of  controversy  with  some  who  have 
denied  the  fact.  I  only  give  my  conclusions  from 
what  I  consider  the  more  reasonable  evidence  of  the 
case.  Why  should  the  citizens  of  Columbia  have 
burned  their  own  property?  If  it  was  accidental, 
why  did  not  a  common  feeling  of  humanity  induce 
the  Federal  officers  to  order  their  soldiers  to  extin 
guish  it? 

General  Wheeler  continued  to  move  northwardly 
toward  Chester,  Cheraw,  and  Winnsboro,  S.  C.  We 
had  some  skirmishing  and  fights  with  the  enemy's 
cavalry  in  which  we  held  our  own,  giving  as  much 
as  we  received.  A  short  time  after  this  I  remember 
that  General  Hampton  assumed  in  person  the  com 
mand  of  our  forces,  and  that  he  and  Gen.  M.  T. 
Butler,  both  of  whom  were  afterwards  United 
States  Senators  from  the  State  of  South  Carolina, 
riding  at  the  head  of  the  column  in  a  forced  march 
all  night  long,  halted  the  column  for  a  few  minutes 
as  the  word  was  passed  for  all  to  stand  still  and  make 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  -Regiment.       123 

no  noise.  We  had  been  there  only  a  little  while  when 
we  heard  footsteps ;  and  looking  up  the  road,  we  saw 
some  of  our  men  passing  us,  having  in  charge  a 
large  picket  of  the  enemy.  We  knew  at  once  that 
something  of  a  wakening  character  was  at  hand,  and 
this  was  a  signal  for  the  men  to  arouse  from  their 
sleep  on  the  ground  and  to  mount  their  horses.  We 
were  soon  in  a  rapid  charge,  and  as  daylight  opened 
we  found  ourselves  in  Kilpatrick's  camp. 

The  battle  of  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  occurred  on  the 
1 6th  day  of  February,  1865,  in  the  early  morn 
ing.  The  battle  field  was  some  ten  miles  from  the 
city.  The  soldiers  who  fought  the  battle  speak  and 
know  of  it  as  the  Kilpatrick  fight  near  Fayette 
ville,  N.  C.  Many  of  the  Federals  had  not  arisen 
from  their  sleep;  when  we  charged  in  among 
them,  we  concluded  that  we  had  the  entire  thing 
in  our  hands.  Kilpatrick  made  his  escape  in  his 
night  clothes  from  a  log  house  near  the  encampment ; 
but  we  captured  everything  about  his  headquarters — 
a  dozen  horses,  several  carriages,  and  a  number  of 
attendants  about  the  place.  A  few  of  his  soldiers 
escaped  on  foot.  Some  of  them  commenced  to  fire 
upon  us,  and  then  there  was  a  scattered  fire  for  some 
little  time.  One  column  of  our  command  was  to 
make  a  charge  and  enter  the  encampment  on  our  left. 
Unfortunately,  they  encountered  a  swamp,  which 
occasioned  a  delay  and  some  confusion,  which  caused 
the  enemy  to  fire  on  us.  Some  infantry  coming 


124       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

to  the  enemy's  assistance,  quite  a  battle  took  place, 
lasting  for  an  hour  or  more,  till,  with  further  assist 
ance  from  their  infantiy,  they  were  able  to  drive  us 
out  of  their  encampment.  We  took  with  us  five 
hundred  horses  and  four  hundred  prisoners.  The 
enemy  lost  a  good  many  in  killed  and  wounded. 
General  Hume,  in  command  of  our  division,  Colonel, 
Harrison,  of  our  brigade,  and  Capt.  Billy  Sayers, 
his  adjutant  general,  were  so  seriously  wounded 
that  they  did  not  report  for  duty  again  during  the 
remainder  of  the  war.  Lieut.  Col.  Paul  Anderson, 
of  the  Fourth  Tennessee,  was  also  among  the  wound 
ed.  Lieutenant  Massengale,  of  Company  B,  was 
killed  with  others,  and  quite  a  number  of  the  Regi 
ment  were  wounded.  My  opinion  of  this  affair  is : 
We  did  very  well  under  the  circumstances;  but  we 
would  have  done  better  had  not  the  men  commenced 
too  soon  a  distribution  of  the  captures,  or  had  the 
other  half  of  our  command  succeeded  in  crossing 
the  swamp. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
IN  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

AFTER  the  wounding  of  the  officers  named  in  the 
foregoing  chapter,  Col.  Henry  Ashby,  of  the  Second 
Tennessee  Cavalry,  succeeded  to  the  position  of 
major  general  of  Hume's  Division ;  Col.  Baxter 
Smith,  of  the  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry,  to  that 
of  Col.  Thomas  Harrison's  brigade ;  Adjt.  George 
B.  Guild,  to  that  of  Captain  Savers,  as  adjutant  gen 
eral  of  the  brigade;  Maj.  Scott  Bledsoe,  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  Fourth  Tennessee ;  and  Lieut.  E.  Cro- 
zier  was  made  adjutant  of  the  Regiment. 

The  enemy  did  not  pursue  us  at  once,  and  the 
command  passed  on  to  Fayetteville.  We  passed 
down  the  main  street  of  the  city  and  crossed  the 
bridge  that  spans  the  Cape  Fear  River.  As  we 
passed  over  the  bridge,  I  noticed  that  it  had  been  ros 
ined,  and  upon  the  other  side  near  the  bridge  I  no 
ticed  several  cannons  that  had  been  masked.  We 
were  halted  here.  After  a  while  we  heard  a  consid 
erable  firing  of  small  arms.  In  a  few  moments  Gen 
eral  Hampton  came  dashing  over  the  bridge  with  a 
few  cavalrymen  trailing  him.  When  he  had  crossed, 
the  bridge  was  ignited,  and  soon  the  flames  mounted 
the  large  frame  structure,  enveloping  it  in  fire  and 
smoke.  A  considerable  number  of  the  enemy's  cav- 


126       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

airy  and  infantry  rushed  down  the  street  and  into 
the  opening  on  the  other  side,  which  was  the  signal 
for  the  battery  to  open  upon  them,  which  they  did, 
rapidly  throwing  shells  and  shot  into  the  dense  mass, 
causing  a  scattering,  falling  down,  and  scrambling 
to  get  out  of  the  way.  It  was  too  serious  a  matter, 
to  laugh  at,  but  it  really  was  amusing.  Dr.  Jim 
Sayers,  of  Company  C  of  the  Fourth  Tennessee,  was 
one  of  the  squad  that  had  come  across  with  General 
Hampton.  When  asked  what  the  firing  meant  pre 
ceding  their  coming  over,  he  said  that  General  Hamp 
ton  had  picked  up  about  a  dozen  soldiers  who  were 
following  the  command,  and,  placing  them  in  a  turn 
of  the  street,  awaited  the  coming  of  the  advance 
guard  of  the  enemy;  and  when  the  enemy  had  ap 
proached  near  enough,  General  Hampton  and  his 
men  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  dashed  upon  them 
with  their  revolvers,  emptying  some  saddles,  scatter 
ing  and  rushing  them  back  upon  the  main  line.  He 
said  that  "General  Hampton  certainly  killed  several 
of  the  enemy  in  the  melee,  besides  others  that  were 
killed  or  wounded." 

Upon  leaving  here,  we  marched  toward  Benton- 
ville,  N.  C.  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  who  had  been 
appointed  commander  in  chief,  had  his  headquarters 
near  here  and  was  arranging  and  collecting  his  small 
army  to  resist  the  advancing  columns  of  the  enemy, 
who  seemed  to  be  headed  that  way  from  every  quar 
ter.  The  railroads  had  been  torn  up  in  all  directions, 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       127 

and  the  Army  of  Tennessee  was  arriving  in  small 
detachments,  traveling  the  distance  from  Corinth, 
Miss.,  partly  on  foot  and  partly  by  rail.  Many  of 
the  absentees  from  Hood's  campaign  in  Tennessee 
were  joining  in  small  squads.  Some  of  them  were 
captured  in  trying  to  cross  the  Tennessee,  and  some 
remained  at  home,  giving  up  the  contest  as  lost. 

Soon  after  reaching  Bentonville  General  Wheeler 
was  ordered  to  Averyboro,  N.  C,  to  assist  General 
Hardee.  This  took  a  day  and  night's  march,  if  I  re 
member  rightly.  General  Hardee  had  taken  position 
there  to  resist  a  column  of  the  enemy  marching  to 
ward  Bentonville.  Skirmishing  was  going  on  when 
we  arrived  upon  the  field.  While  awaiting  orders 
Private  Liter  Herndon,  of  Company  G,  came  up  and 
asked  permission  to  carry  a  battle  flag  that  had  been 
given  us  by  a  lady  friend  who  happened  to  be  at 
Winnsboro,  S.  C.,  as  we  passed  through  there  a 
few  weeks  before.  It  was  a  beautiful  flag  of  fine 
material,  said  to  have  been  made  in  Scotland.  It  was 
a  Maltese  cross,  with  eleven  stars  forming  the  cross 
of  St.  Andrew.  We  thanked  the  lady  for  the  gift, 
promising  her  that  it  should  be  unfurled  in  our  next 
battle.  Remembering  this,  I  asked  Colonel  Smith 
and  his  inspector  general,  Capt.  J.  R.  Lester,  to  let 
Herndon  have  it,  which  was  agreed  to;  and  Hern- 
don,  cutting  a  sapling,  attached  the  flag  to  it  and 
soon  disappeared.  In  a  little  while  the  brigade  was 
ordered  off  to  the  right,  where  we  were  engaged  in 


128      Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

brisk  skirmishing  till  nightfall,  when  we  were  or 
dered  to  our  left  front  to  relieve  some  infantry  in  a 
line  of  temporary  works.  We  learned  that  the  enemy 
were  intervening  between  us  and  Bentonville,  that 
General  Johnston's  little  army  was  threatened,  and 
that  a  battle  was  imminent.  In  passing  up  the  road 
to  the  works,  the  rosin  on  the  pine  trees  had  been 
lighted,  and  we  were  visible  to  the  enemy,  who  kept 
up  a  constant  fire.  As  our  infantry  would  pass  us 
going  to  the  rear,  we  heard  more  than  one  squad 
speaking  of  a  soldier  who  had  come  upon  the  line 
that  morning  and  said  to  them :  "What  are  they 
keeping  up  such  a  racket  for?  I  can  see  no  one  to 
fire  at."  Deliberately  climbing  over  the  works  and, 
reaching  an  elevated  position  some  distance  to  their 
front  and  mounting  it,  he  waved  his  flag  toward 
the  enemy,  who  immediately  turned  loose  a  volley  at 
him,  and  he  and  his  flag  fell  to  the  ground.  This 
brought  to  mind  the  incident  of  Herndon  and  the 
flag.  When  I  inquired  of  the  next  soldier  that 
passed,  I  was  informed  that  he  had  been  sent  to  the 
field  hospital.  I  at  once  dispatched  one  of  his  com 
pany  back  to  investigate  the  matter.  I  did  not  see 
him  until  the  next  day,  when  he  reported  the  facts 
as  stated,  and  that  he  found  Hert]don  in  the  field 
hospital  badly  wounded  in  several  places,  and  that 
one  of  the  surgeons  in  charge  told  him  that  Herndon 
was  mortally  wounded  and  was  certain  to  die.  Be 
fore  the  friend  left  him,  Herndon  requested  him  to 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       129 

look  in  his  haversack  and  get  out  the  flag  and  return 
it  to  headquarters  with  his  compliments.  I  have 
never  heard  of  Herndon  since,  and  I  suppose  that  he 
died  and  was  buried  at  or  near  Averyboro,  N.  C. 
This  flag  was  afterwards  most  gallantly  carried  by 
James  B.  Nance,  the  bugler  of  the  regiment,  through 
the  battle  of  Bentonville.  The  surrender  of  the  army 
occurring  a  few  weeks  after  this,  Nance  concealed 
the  flag  and  brought  it  home  with  him  to  Smith 
County,  Tenn.  I  have  regretted  since  that  I  did  not 
preserve  the  flag.  I  did  not  meet  Nance  for  a  year 
after  we  came  home,  when  he  said  that  he  had  given 
the  flag  to  his  wife  and  she  had  made  an  apron  of  it 
for  her  little  girl.  If  I  had  it  now,  it  could  tell  of 
more  fire  and  battle,  though  short-lived  as  it  was, 
than  many  of  the  flags  we  see  so  heroically  flaunting 
at  latter-day  reunions. 

A  few  days  before  the  battle  of  Averyboro  Gen 
eral  Bragg,  who  was  reporting  to  General  Johnston, 
fought  a  battle  at  Kingston,  N.  C.,  with  the  Federal 
General  Cox,  driving  him  from  the  field  with  the  loss 
of  1,500  prisoners  and  three  pieces  of  artillery.  At 
daylight  we  left  the  intrenchments  at  Averyboro, 
following  General  Hardee,  who  was  hurrying  on  to 
Bentonville.  When  we  reached  Bentonville,  the  bat 
tle  was  on.  General  Johnston  had  had  some  success 
the  day  before,  but  the  enemy  were  constantly  arriv 
ing  in  great  numbers. 

This  was  the  last  general  battle  of  the  war  fought 
9 


130       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

by  the  Army  of  Tennessee.  General  Johnston,  in  his 
narrative  of  his  campaigns,  says  that  his  available 
forces  at  Bentonville  were  about  5,000  men  of  the 
Army  of  Tennessee,  and  that  the  troops  of  the  de 
partment  amounted  to  about  1 1 ,000.  Sherman  was 
marching  against  him  with  an  army  of  70,000,  and 
nearly  as  large  a  force  was  approaching  from  the 
North  Carolina  coast.  The  last  day  of  the  battle, 
which,  if  I  remember  right,  was  the  igth  or  2Oth  of 
March,  1865,  Wheeler's  cavalry  command  was  or 
dered  to  the  front  along  a  curved  line  that  was  to  be 
extended  from  the  right  at  a  point  on  Mill  Creek 
around  to  the  left,  so  as  to  cover  the  small  village  of 
Bentonville  and  the  bridge  which  spanned  Mill 
Creek,  a  large  and  muddy  creek  with  marshy  ap 
proaches.  The  bridge  was  the  only  egress  for  the 
army.  We  moved  along  the  curved  line  occupied 
by  the  infantry,  and  had  hardly  passed  the  cres 
cent  of  the  curve  when  we  found  General  John 
ston  and  his  staff  standing  there  in  earnest  conversa 
tion  with  General  Wheeler.  We  heard  Johnston  or 
der  Wheeler  to  send  a  regiment  to  the  left  front  and 
develop  the  enemy.  The  brigade  commanded  by 
Col.  Baxter  Smith  happened  to  be  in  front,  and 
Wheeler  ordered  him  to  send  forward  his  front  reg 
iment,  which  was  the  Fourth  Tennessee.  Colonel 
Smith  accompanied  his  old  regiment,  leaving  the 
remainder  of  the  brigade  standing  in  line  upon  their 
horses  in  the  edge  of  a  wood.  They  had  not  pro- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  'Regiment.       131 

ceeded  far  when,  in  passing  over  and  down  the  slope 
of  a  hill,  they  came  into  the  view  of  a  line  of  the  ene 
my's  skirmishers  extending  for  half  a  mile  across  the 
field.  Upon  seeing  us,  they  commenced  firing,  and 
our  horses  and  men  were  falling  fast  when  the  Regi 
ment  was  ordered  to  dismount  and  the  horses  were 
sent  to  the  rear.  The  men,  moving  out  in  the  field  to 
the  left,  threw  down  a  fence  and  began  firing  upon 
the  advancing  skirmishers.  We  remained  there  some 
time,  until  it  looked  as  if  they  would  envelop  us, 
when  a  courier  came  from  General  Wheeler  with  the 
order  to  fall  back  upon  the  line  in  the  edge  of  the 
wood.  As  we  moved  back  up  the  hill,  the  enemy  con 
tinued  to  fire  vigorously  at  us,  and  we  could  see  our 
mounted  men  falling  from  their  horses  as  we  ap 
proached.  The  shots  intended  for  us  passed  over 
our  heads,  killing  and  wounding  many  of  them. 

The  courier  who  brought  us  the  message  to  fall 
back  was  on  horseback,  and  was  shot  in  the  head  and 
instantly  killed.  His  body  was  thrown  into  a  pass 
ing  ambulance,  with  directions  to  take  it  back  to  the 
village  and  bury  it,  marking  the  grave.  He  was 
Robert  Davis,  of  Company  K,  and,  though  but  nine 
teen  years  of  age,  had  been  in  the  war  since  its 
commencement.  His  father  lived  at  Lebanon,  Tenn., 
and  soon  after  the  war  went  to  Bentonville  and 
brought  the  body  home.  A  gentleman  had  buried  it 
in  his  garden,  marking  the  grave.  He  had  also  kept 
his  horse,  and  the  father  brought  it  home  with  him. 


132       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Johnston  shifted  his  infantry  farther  to  the  left; 
the  enemy  coming  no  nearer,  Wheeler  was  ordered 
still  farther  to  the  left.  Here  was  encountered  the 
enemy  again  in  a  sharp  contest  in  a  dense  wood 
land.  Among  the  wounded  was  Capt.  J.  W.  Nichol, 
of  Company  G.  This  was  the  third  wound  that  this 
most  gallant  officer  had  received.  He  was  shot 
through  the  breast;  and  as  he  was  borne  from  the 
field,  pale  and  bleeding,  it  was  remarked  that  we 
would  never  see  him  again.  Remarkable  to  state, 
he  was  back  at  the  surrender  a  few  weeks  thereafter, 
surrendering  with  his  regiment.  Colonel  Smith  had 
the  Third  Arkansas  and  the  Eleventh  Texas  to  dis 
mount  and  march  forward  to  where  the  skirmishing 
was  going  on.  The  Eighth  Texas  and  the  Fourth 
Tennessee  were  standing  there  in  column.  An  officer 
of  General  Hardee's  came  riding  in  haste  from  down 
the  road,  and,  inquiring  for  the  officer,  said  to  Col 
onel  Smith  that  the  enemy  were  threatening  the 
bridge,  and  asked  him  to  come  down  there  as  soon 
as  possible,  that  such  were  the  orders  of  General 
Hardee.  Colonel  Smith  hastened  with  all  dispatch 
with  his  two  mounted  regiments  to  the  designated 
spot.  The  field  hospital  of  General  Johnston's  army 
was  close  by ;  and  as  the  command  passed  down  the 
road,  we  could  see  men  escaping  from  the  hospital 
and  a  general  scattering  of  men,  evidencing  that 
something  of  a  stirring  nature  was  happening.  We 
found  General  Hardee  standing  in  the  road  about 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       133 

half  a  mile  or  more  from  where  we  started.  He 
at  once  ordered  the  regiments  into  line  along  the 
road  and  to  charge  through  the  woods,  and,  in 
coming  up  with  the  enemy,  to  drive  them  from  the 
field.  There  was  no  force  of  our  own  in  front  of 
us,  and  there  was  a  gap  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or 
more  from  the  creek  to  where  our  line  extended  from 
the  right.  We  charged  promptly  and  vigorously,  as 
ordered,  and  had  not  gone  far  till  we  struck  a  long 
line  of  the  enemy's  skirmishers.  They  were  taken 
by  surprise  at  the  suddenness  of  the  attack;  and  as 
we  rode  in  among  them,  using  our  "navies,"  we 
scattered  them  and  forced  them  back  to  their  main 
line,  a  distance  of  several  hundred  yards.  Some  were 
killed  and  wounded,  and  a  few  prisoners  were  taken. 
We  lost  a  few  men  ourselves.  At  this  juncture  of 
affairs  a  line  of  our  infantry  appeared  in  our  rear; 
and  before  the  enemy  could  recover  from  their  sur 
prise  we  had  a  sufficient  force  to  hold  the  position 
till  General  Johnston's  army  passed  over  the  bridge 
that  night.  Undoubtedly  this  charge  of  the  Eighth 
Texas  and  the  Fourth  Tennessee  saved  the  bridge 
and  made  certain  the  escape  of  Johnston's  little  army 
at  Bentonville,  for  at  that  time  the  enemy  numbered 
six  to  our  one.  The  enemy  we  were  fighting  was  a 
large  skirmish  line  of  General  Mower's  division  of 
infantry.  General  Hardee  extended  his  thanks  to 
Colonel  Smith  for  the  success  of  the  gallant  charge 
of  his  two  regiments. 


134       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

These  facts  I  have  stated  were  well  known  by 
soldiers  of  the  army  at  the  time,  and  I  have  frequent 
ly  heard  them  expressed  since.  In  late  years  some 
writers  have  written  upon  the  subject,  claiming  that 
their  respective  commands  took  part  in  the  fight  on 
this  part  of  the  line.  If  they  did,  I  am  free  to  say 
that  I  did  not  see  them,  and  my  opportunities  were 
good  to  know  of  it  if  they  had  done  so.  When  the 
two  regiments  reached  the  point  where  General  Har- 
dee  stood,  there  was  some  artillery  firing  toward  the 
enemy  from  the  right  of  our  line  and  some  artillery 
immediately  in  our  rear  that  fired  over  our  heads  as 
we  went  down  the  slope  into  the  wood.  I  remember 
that  a  piece  of  wood  that  had  become  detached  from 
a  canister  shell  struck  Lieutenant  Scoggins,  of  Com 
pany  C,  stunning  him  and  making  him  unconscious 
for  a  while.  He  is  now  living  in  Nashville,  and  is 
one  of  its  most  prominent  citizens. 

This  gap  in  General  Johnston's  line  had  suddenly 
become  the  most  important  part  in  the  line,  and  all 
available  forces  were  hurried  there  to  repel  the 
danger  that  seriously  threatened :  but  I  do  not  think 
any  further  firing  took  place.  This  was  the  last 
firing  from  the  Army  of  Tennessee  in  its  last  battle 
during  the  war.  General  Johnston,  in  his  report 
of  the  battle  of  Bentonville,  says:  "In  the  Eighth 
Texas  Regiment,  Lieutenant  General  Hardee's  only 
son,  a  noble  youth  of  sixteen,  charging  bravely  in 
the  foremost  rank,  fell  mortally  wounded.  He  had 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       135 

enlisted  but  a  few  days  before."  General  Hardee  re 
ported  his  loss  at  Averyboro  at  500.  Prisoners  taken 
said  that  the  Federal  loss  was  about  3,000.  General 
Johnston,  in  his  report  on  the  three  days'  fighting  at 
Bentonville,  says  that  his  loss  was  223  killed,  1,467 
wounded,  and  653  missing.  Of  the  missing,  many 
of  them  reported  to  him  afterwards  at  Smithfield, 
having  charged  through  the  Federal  lines  where 
gaps  were  made  by  the  thick  timber,  and,  passing 
into  the  country  beyond,  rejoined  their  commands  in 
a  few  days  thereafter.  Maj.  Buck  Joyner,  of  the 
Eighteenth  Tennessee  Infantry,  was  one  of  this  lot, 
who  reported  with  about  one  hundred  of  his  men. 
General  Johnston,  speaking  further  in  his  report  on 
Bentonville,  says :  "We  captured  903  prisoners." 
The  Federals  reported  their  loss  to  have  exceeded 
4,000,  which  is  about  correct,  I  suppose,  when  we 
remember  that  the  Confederates  fought  for  the  most 
of  the  time  in  intrenchments.  The  appearance  of  the 
field  of  battle  certainly  justified  such  a  conclusion. 

My  comment  on  the  battle  of  Bentonville  is  that 
the  Confederates  fought  with  as  much  bravery  and 
patriotic  zeal  as  they  had  shown  at  Murfreesboro 
or  at  Chickamauga.  It  is  true  that  they  had  every 
thing  to  discourage  them,  had  they  stopped  to  think ; 
but  an  instinct  of  honor  suggested  that  they  would 
stick  it  out  to  the  end,  let  consequences  be  what  they 
may,  and  the  idea  of  a  surrender  had  not  then  en 
tered  their  heads. 


CHAPTER  X. 

FURTHER  MOVEMENTS  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA,  AND 
THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  END. 

AFTER  the  battle  of  Bentonville  General  John 
ston  retreated  to  Smithfield,  N.  C.,  a  distance  of 
seventeen  miles.  Gen.  Frank  Cheatham,  with  two 
thousand  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee,  joined  him 
there,  and  small  squads  of  that  army  continued  from 
time  to  time  to  come  up,  marching  on  foot  from  Cor 
inth,  Miss.  A  lull  took  place  in  the  movements  of 
the  Federal  army  at  this  time.  Generals  Sherman 
and  Schofield  had  united  their  large  armies,  and  were 
deliberating  on  their  next  movement  to  encompass 
General  Johnston  and  his  army.  The  Confederate 
recruits  that  had  joined  since  the  battle  of  Benton 
ville  about  supplied  the  losses  Johnston  had  sustained 
during  his  North  Carolina  campaign. 

During  this  lull  in  military  movements  General 
Johnston  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  reor 
ganize  his  much  depleted  army.  Five  or  six  compa 
nies  were  consolidated  into  one,  three  or  four  regi 
ments  into  one,  and  so  on  through  the  list  to  that  of 
divisions.  This,  of  course,  retired  many  commis 
sioned  officers  from  the  lowest  rank  to  that  of  major 
generals  of  divisions.  I  do  not  remember  that  any 
lieutenant  generals  were  interfered  with,  as  I  am 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       137 

of  the  opinion  that  we  did  not  have  an  oversupply 
of  this  grade  on  hand.  But  to  the  honor  of  these 
retired  officers,  I  did  not  hear  of  one  who  sulked  in 
his  tent  for  this  reason;  but  they  patriotically  be 
came  members  of  the  army  again  in  some  capacity, 
even  down  to  enlisting,  as  many  of  them  had  done 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  as  privates  in  their 
company.  The  infantry  say  to  this  day  that  most 
of  them  joined  the  cavalry.  I  know  that  some 
twenty  of  them,  the  highest  rank  among  them  being 
that  of  colonel,  joined  the  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry 
and  were  paroled  with  that  regiment.  I  remember 
after  the  reorganization  to  have  met  a  soldier  in  the 
old  Second  Tennessee  Infantry,  and  I  asked  him 
what  was  the  number  of  his  regiment  since  the  re 
organization.  He  replied  that  he  did  not  know,  as 
it  was  one  of  the  questions  that  was  past  finding  out ; 
that  he  knew  of  a  company  of  a  lieutenant  and  five 
men  that  had  been  built  up  to  the  regulation  limit  of 
seventy-two  men  by  the  consolidation  of  five  other 
companies  and  the  enlistment  of  commissioned  offi 
cers  from  the  lowest  rank  to  that  of  major  general 
to  reach  the  required  limit.  Of  course  the  soldier 
was  romancing,  but  really  he  was  drawing  a  truthful 
picture  of  what  the  Confederate  army  was  then,  after 
four  years  of  campaigning  and  fighting  the  battles 
that  they  had  passed  through. 

Before  General  Johnston  had  left  Smithfield  he 
was  officially  notified  of  the  fact  that  General  Lee 


138       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

had  been  forced  to  leave  Petersburg,  Va.,  with  his 
army  on  the  2cl  day  of  April,  1865.  Richmond,  the 
Confederate  capital,  had  been  evacuated,  and  the 
President  and  his  Cabinet  were  then  at  some  point  in 
North  Carolina,  of  which  Johnston  was  notified  by 
telegram,  summoning  him  to  meet  them  in  confer 
ence.  I  do  not  suppose  that  any  other  officer  of  the 
Army  of  Tennessee  knew  of  this  fact  at  the  time, 
even  the  highest  ranking  officers.  While  this  con 
ference  was  in  session  General  Lee  notified  President 
Davis  of  the  surrender  of  his  army  at  Appomattox. 
I  will  be  pardoned  here  for  quoting  liberally  from 
Johnston's  narrative  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
what  transpired  at  the  interview  between  General 
Johnston  and  Mr.  Davis  and  his  Cabinet.  The  army 
was  totally  ignorant  of  all  this,  and  the  thought  of 
a  surrender  had  not  entered  their  minds : 

The  three  corps  of  the  Confederate  army  reached  Raleigh, 
N.  C,  on  the  evening  of  the  loth  of  April,  1865.  In  a  telegram 
dated  Greensboro,  N.  C.,  4:30  P.M.,  the  President  directed  me 
to  leave  the  troops  under  Lieutenant  General  Hardee's  com 
mand  and  report  to  him  there.  Taking  the  first  train,  about 
midnight,  I  reached  Greensboro  about  eight  o'clock  on  the  I2th, 
and  was  General  Beauregard's  guest.  His  headquarters  was  a 
freight  car  near  by  and  in  sight  of  those  of  the  President. 
The  General  and  myself  were  summoned  to  the  President's 
office  in  an  hour  or  two,  and  found  Messrs.  Benjamin,  Mallory, 
and  Reagan  with  him.  We  had  supposed  that  we  were  to  be 
questioned  concerning  the  military  resources  of  our  department 
in  connection  with  the  question  of  continuing  or  terminating 
the  war.  But  the  President's  object  seemed  to  be  to  give,  not 
to  obtain,  information.  He  said  that  in  two  or  three  weeks 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       139 

he  would  have  a  large  army  in  the  field  by  bringing  into  the 
ranks  those  that  had  abandoned  them  in  less  desperate  circum 
stances,  and  by  calling  out  the  enrolled  men  whom  the  con 
script  bureau  with  its  forces  had  been  unable  to  bring  into  the 
army.  It  was  remarked  by  the  military  officers  that  men  who 
had  left  the  army  when  our  cause  was  not  desperate,  and 
those  who  under  the  same  circumstances  could  not  be  forced 
into  it,  would  scarcely  in  the  present  desperate  condition  of 
our  affairs  enter  the  service  upon  mere  invitation.  Neither 
opinions  nor  information  was  asked,  and  the  conference  ended. 

General  Breckenridge,  as  was  expected,  arrived  that  after 
noon  and  confirmed  the  report  of  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of 
Virginia.  General  Beauregard  and  myself,  conversing  together 
after  the  intelligence  of  the  great  disaster,  reviewed  the  con 
dition  of  our  affairs,  carefully  compared  the  resources  of  the 
belligerents,  and  agreed  in  the  opinion  that  the  Southern  Con 
federacy  was  overthrown.  In  conversation  with  General 
Breckenridge  afterwards  I  repeated  this  and  said  that  the  only 
power  of  government  left  in  the  President's  hands  was  that  of 
terminating  the  war,  and  that  this  power  should  be  exercised 
without  more  delay.  I  also  expressed  my  readiness  to  suggest 
to  the  President  the  absolute  necessity  of  such  action,  should 
an  opportunity  to  do  so  be  given  me.  General  Breckenridge 
promised  to  make  this  opportunity.  Mr.  Mallory  came  to  con 
verse  with  me  on  the  subject.  He  showed  great  anxiety  that 
negotiations  to  end  the  war  should  be  commenced,  and  urged 
that  I  was  the  person  who  should  suggest  the  measure  to  the 
President. 

General  Breckenridge  and  myself  were  summoned  to  the 
President's  office  an  hour  or  two  after  the  meeting  of  his 
Cabinet  the  next  morning.  Being  desired  by  the  President  to 
do  so,  we  compared  the  military  forces  of  the  two  parties  to 
the  war.  Our  force  was  an  army  of  about  20,000  infantry  and 
artillery  and  5,ooo  mounted  troops.  That  of  the  United  States 
was  three  armies  that  could  be  combined  against  ours,  which 
was  insignificant  when  compared  with  either:  Grant's  army 
of  180,000  men,  Sherman's  army  of  at  least  110,000,  and  Can- 


140       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

by's  army  of  60,000 — odds  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  to  one, 
which  in  a  few  weeks  could  be  more  than  doubled.  I  repre 
sented  that  under  such  circumstances  it  would  be  the  greatest 
of  human  crimes  for  us  to  attempt  to  continue  the  war,  for, 
having  neither  credit,  money,  nor  arms  but  those  in  the  hands 
of  our  soldiers,  nor  ammunition  but  that  in  their  cartridge 
boxes,  nor  shops  for  repairing  arms  or  making  ammunition,  the 
effect  of  our  keeping  the  field  would  be,  not  to  harm  the  ene 
my,  but  to  complete  the  devastation  of  our  country  and  the 
ruin  of  its  people.  I  therefore  urged  that  the  President  should 
exercise  at  once  the  only  function  of  government  still  in  his 
possession  and  open  negotiations  of  peace. 

The  President  then  desired  the  members  of  his  Cabinet  to 
express  their  opinions  on  the  important  subject.  General 
Breckenridge,  Mr.  Mallory,  and  Mr.  Reagan  thought  that  the 
war  was  decided  against  us,  and  that  it  was  absolutely  neces 
sary  to  make  peace.  Mr.  Benjamin  expressed  the  contrary 
opinion,  making  a  speech  for  war,  much  like  that  of  Sem- 
pronius  in  "Soldier's  Play."  The  President  said  that  it  was 
idle  to  suggest  that  he  should  attempt  to  negotiate  when  it 
was  certain  from  the  attempt  previously  made  that  his  author 
ity  to  treat  would  not  be  recognized,  nor  any  terms  that  he 
might  offer  would  be  considered  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  I  reminded  him  that  it  had  not  been  unusual 
in  such  cases  for  military  commanders  to  initiate  negotiations 
upon  which  treaties  of  peace  were  founded,  and  proposed  that 
he  should  allow  me  to  address  General  Sherman  on  the  sub 
ject.  After  a  few  words  in  opposition  to  that  idea,  Mr.  Davis 
reverted  to  the  first  suggestion,  that  he  should  offer  terms  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  which  he  had  put  aside, 
and  sketched  a  letter  appropriate  to  be  sent  by  me  to  General 
Sherman,  proposing  a  meeting  to  arrange  the  terms  of  an 
armistice  to  enable  the  civil  authorities  to  agree  upon  terms 
of  peace.  The  letter  prepared  in  that  way  was  sent  by  me  to 
Lieutenant  General  Hampton,  near  Hillsboro,  to  be  forwarded 
to  General  Sherman.  It  was  delivered  to  the  latter  the  next 
day,  April  14,  and  was  as  follows: 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       141 

"The  result  of  the  recent  campaign  in  Virginia  has  changed 
the  relative  military  condition  of  the  belligerents.  I  am  there 
fore  induced  to  address  you  in  this  form  the  inquiry  whether, 
in  order  to  stop  the  further  effusion  of  blood  and  devastation 
of  property,  you  are  willing  to  make  a  temporary  suspension 
of  active  operations  and  to  communicate  to  Lieutenant  General 
Grant,  commanding  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  the  request 
that  he  will  take  like  action  in  regard  to  the  other  armies,  the 
object  being  to  permit  the  civil  authorities  to  enter  into  the 
needful  arrangements  to  terminate  the  existing  war." 

This  note  was  promptly  delivered  to  General  Sher 
man,  who  agreed  to  the  proposition  and  fixed  the 
time  for  a  conference.  When  they  met  for  a  secret 
interview,  General  Johnston  asked  that  Gen.  John  C. 
Breckenridge  be  admitted  to  their  meeting,  which 
was  also  granted.  On  the  i8th  day  of  April,  1865, 
the  two  commanding  officers  of  the  respective  armies 
agreed  in  writing  as  follows : 

Memorandum  or  basis  of  an  agreement  made  the  i8th  day 
of  April,  A.D.  1865,  near  Durham  Station,  in  the  State  of 
North  Carolina,  by  and  between  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston, 
commanding  the  Confederate  army,  and  Maj.  Gen.  William  T. 
Sherman,  commanding  the  Army  of  the  United  States  in 
North  Carolina,  both  present. 

This  agreement  contained  seven  different  items 
relating  to  the  terms  of  surrender,  only  one  of  which 
is  necessary  for  our  purpose  to  repeat  here : 

The  Confederate  armies  now  in  existence  to  be  disbanded 
and  conducted  to  their  several  State  Capitols,  there  to  deposit 
their  arms  and  public  property  in  the  State  arsenal,  and  each 
officer  and  man  to  execute  and  file  an  agreement  to  cease  from 
acts  of  war,  and  to  abide  the  action  of  the  State  and  Federal 


142       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

authority,  the  number  of  arms  and  ammunitions  of  war  to  be 
reported  to  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  at  Washington  City,  sub 
ject  to  the  further  action  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
and  in  the  meantime  to  be  used  solely  to  maintain  peace  and 
order  within  the  borders  of  the  States  respectively. 

The  seven  articles  of  agreement  close  as  follows : 

Not  being  fully  empowered  by  our  respective  principals  to 
fulfill  these  terms,  we  individually  and  officially  pledge  our 
selves  to  promptly  obtain  the  necessary  authority  and  to  carry 
out  the  above  program. 

Both  of  the  commanding  generals  attached  their 
names  to  this  paper,  giving  their  official  rank  as 
commanders  of  their  respective  armies,  and  an  ar 
mistice  was  declared,  pending  the  transmission  of  the 
document  to  Washington  City  for  the  approval  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  XL 
THE  END  OF  THE  STRUGGLE. 

WHILE  the  negotiations  stated  in  the  foregoing 
chapter  were  being  had  between  Generals  Johnston 
and  Sherman  Lieutenant  General  Hardee,  who  had 
been  left  at  Smithfield  in  command  of  the  Confeder 
ate  army,  commenced  his  move  northward  through 
Raleigh.  The  enemy,  becoming  active,  moved  also; 
but  they  did  not  come  in  sight  until  we  were  passing 
Durham  Station,  where  we  left  the  line  of  the  rail 
road,  marching  in  the  direction  of  Chapel  Hill.  The 
enemy  appeared  in  our  rear  and  vigorously  cannon 
aded  the  army  as  they  passed,  the  cavalry  bringing 
up  the  rear.  First  Lieut.  H.  L.  Preston,  of  Company 
E,  and  First  Lieut.  Jo  Massengale,  of  Company  B, 
Fourth  Tennessee,  were  left  at  Durham  Station  with 
their  companies;  and  upon  the  enemy's  advance 
guard  coming  up,  they  had  quite  a  fight,  in  which 
both  lieutenants,  as  well  as  some  of  their  men,  were 
wounded.  This  was  the  fourth  time  that  the  gal 
lant  officer  Preston  was  wounded  in  action.  Upon 
reaching  Chapel  Hill,  Col.  Baxter  Smith's  brigade 
was  left  there  on  outpost  duty,  the  remainder  of  the 
army  passing  on.  We  remained  at  Chapel  Hill  two 
days  or  more,  our  headquarters  being  at  a  line  of 
fence  inclosing  the  college  campus,  and  picketed  the 
roads  leading  toward  Raleigh,  N.  C. 


144       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

The  chaplains  of  the  army  were  good  men,  and 
we  could  not  have  well  done  without  their  services. 
But  I  think  they  were  generally  "free  lances"  in  the 
army,  and  were  permitted  to  go  and  come  ad  libitum 
— at  least  ours  was.  One  morning  our  chaplain  came 
into  the  camp  after  a  visit  to  the  town  of  Chapel  Hill, 
and  told  among  the  soldiers  that  General  Lee  had 
surrendered  his  army  to  General  Grant  at  Appomat- 
tox.  Of  course  a  matter  of  such  importance  was 
quickly  circulated  through  the  camp.  When  Colonel 
Smith  heard  it,  he  sent  a  guard  down  and  had  the 
chaplain  arrested  and  brought  to  his  quarters.  Upon 
being  asked  why  he  was  telling  so  improbable  a  tale 
among  the  soldiers,  he  replied  that  he  was  only  tell 
ing  what  he  had  heard  fully  discussed  and  told  by  the 
citizens  he  had  met.  The  Colonel  told  him  to  con 
sider  himself  under  arrest  and  to  take  a  seat. 

Hardly  fifteen  minutes  had  elapsed  before  one  of 
the  pickets  brought  in  a  man,  saying  that  he  had  been 
arrested  while  trying  to  get  through  the  picket  stand 
to  go  home,  as  he  said  that  he  had  surrendered. 
Telling  pretty  much  the  tale  that  the  chaplain  had, 
he  drew  from  his  pocket  a  paper,  which  he  handed 
to  Colonel  Smith,  reciting  the  fact  of  his  surrender 
under  General  Lee.  It  was  a  bona  fide  army  parole, 
with  all  the  earmarks  upon  it,  leaving  no  doubt  of 
the  fact  in  the  mind.  He  stated  further  that  he  had 
learned  that  an  armistice  was  pending  between  the 
armies  of  General  Johnston  and  Sherman  looking  to 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       145 

a  surrender,  and  that  we  would  be  notified  soon. 
The  man  under  arrest  was  told  to  go  his  way;  and 
then,  turning  to  the  chaplain,  Colonel  Smith  re 
marked  :  "I  reckon  you,  too,  have  gained  your  case 
without  introducing  a  witness.  You,  too,  can  go 
your  way."  The  same  day  we  were  notified  of  the 
pending  armistice,  and  to  come  to  a  point  beyond 
Ruffin's  Bridge,  at  a  crossroad,  to  go  into  camp 
awaiting  further  orders.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
describe  the  surprise  created  from  the  highest  rank 
ing  officer  to  the  humblest  private  by  this  news. 
They  were  dazed,  and  had  never  thought  of  a  sur 
render.  It  is  surprising,  too,  that  they  had  not ;  for 
they  were  too  intelligent  not  to  know  of  the  disas 
trous  condition  of  affairs,  and  that  they  were  fight 
ing  a  force  numerically  larger  than  their  own  by  at 
least  ten  to  one.  Had  they  not  concluded  that  all 
left  to  them  was  to  remain  to  the  end  and  to  let  con 
sequences  take  care  of  themselves — in  other  words, 
that  honor  dictated  that  there  was  nothing  for  them 
to  do  but,  if  need  be,  to  die  with  the  harness  on? 

We  at  once  marched  to  the  designated  encamp 
ment,  going  through  Chapel  Hill,  crossing  Ruffin's 
Bridge,  and  going  into  camp  some  twelve  miles 
beyond  it.  We  remained  here,  I  suppose,  ten  days 
awaiting  the  return  of  the  Johnston-Sherman  capit 
ulation.  In  the  meantime  the  men  took  time  to  re 
flect,  and  had  about  settled  down  to  the  conclusion, 
after  weighing  all  the  facts,  that  this  was  about  as 
10 


146       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

favorable  as  they  could  expect,  especially  the  second 
clause  heretofore  quoted — that  they  were  to  march 
home  with  their  army  accouterments,  deposit  them 
in  their  respective  State  Capitols,  return  to  their 
homes,  and  obey  the  laws  of  the  State  and  Federal 
authority.  There  was  some  show  of  recognition  in 
this — that  they  were  not  to  be  considered  as  subju 
gated  subjects,  and  were  to  return  as  veteran  soldiers 
to  their  homes  and  families  that  many  of  them  had 
not  seen  for  four  years. 

During  this  interval  the  Third  Arkansas  and  the 
Eighth  and  Eleventh  Texas  Regiments,  whose  homes 
were  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  marched  off 
home,  saying  that  they  were  going  to  join  Gen.  Kirby 
Smith's  army  and  fight  it  out  over  there.  No  disci 
pline  or  restraint  could  be  imposed  at  this  time. 
They  tried  to  persuade  the  Fourth  Tennessee  to  go 
with  them  on  account  of  the  ties  of  true  comradeship 
that  had  existed  between  them  so  long  and  during 
such  trying  scenes  as  they  had  shared  together.  A 
few  did  go;  but  better  counsels  prevailed,  and  the 
body  of  them  remained,  leaving  Colonel  Smith  in 
command  of  a  brigade  of  250  men  of  the  Fourth 
Tennessee  Cavalry,  besides  about  twenty  of  the  re 
lieved  commissioned  officers  from  the  infantry  who 
were  reporting  to  him. 

The  time  was  spent  in  social  visitation  among  the 
troops,  the  exchanging  of  addresses,  and  dreaming 
of  home.  We  were  invited  to  a  dinner  at  General 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       147 

Bate's  headquarters,  near  by ;  but  his  negro  servant, 
Ben,  got  drunk  that  day,  and,  unfortunately,  we  did 
not  get  as  much  dinner  as  we  expected.  The  pine 
woods  of  North  Carolina  were  flooded  with  old  ap 
plejack,  and  the  soldiers,  of  course,  got  their  full 
supply  of  it.  While  we  were  at  General  Bate's 
headquarters  an  officer  was  seen  at  a  distance  in  a 
field  drilling  his  command  as  if  the  war  had  just 
started.  Some  one  asked :  "Who  is  that  fool  offi 
cer?"  The  reply  came  back  that  it  was  Gen.  John 
C.  Brown  drilling  his  command. 

This  dream  of  home  and  loved  ones  was  cut 
short  one  night  when  a  mounted  man  inquired  for 
Colonel  Smith's  headquarters.  He  was  properly  di 
rected,  and  on  coming  up  presented  an  order.  Upon 
stirring  up  the  fire  to  see,  I  read :  "The  armistice  is 
over.  You  will  take  your  brigade  and  go  to  or  near 
Ruffin's  Bridge  and  place  your  pickets  covering  the 
roads  leading  toward  Raleigh."  The  company  com 
manders  were  ordered  to  arouse  the  men,  mount,  and 
be  ready  to  move  out,  as  we  had  to  go  on  picket  duty. 
Of  course  many  questions  were  asked  as  to  what 
was  up  now.  No  answer  could  be  made  except  that 
the  order  said  that  the  armistice  was  at  an  end.  In 
fact,  before  the  Johnston-Sherman  agreement  could 
be  acted  upon,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  assassinated  by 
Booth.  The  Northern  press,  as  well  as  the  entire 
North,  was  asserting  that  the  killing  had  been  insti 
gated  by  Southern  citizens.  There  was  a  perfect 


148      Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

storm  of  rage  and  frenzy,  such,  as  has  been  said,  that 
if  an  individual  had  expressed  himself  to  the  con 
trary  he  would  have  been  torn  to  pieces  by  the  wild 
and  excited  mob.  Of  course  the  treaty  had  been 
rejected,  and  hence  the  order  to  go  on  picket  duty 
again.  Silently  and  without  saying  a  word,  the  250 
men  of  the  Fourth  Tennessee  Regiment,  all  that  was 
left  of  the  brigade,  moved  out  to  the  post  of  duty. 
They  would  have  been  taken  for  a  funeral  proces 
sion.  These  men  had  passed  through  hundreds  of 
battles  and  skirmishes  where  blood  had  been  drawn, 
and  many  of  them  had  more  than  one  battle  scar 
upon  their  persons;  but  this  was  the  grandest  and 
noblest  act  of  their  soldier  lives — still  faithfully 
pursuing  the  line  of  duty  when  their  star  of  hope 
had  set  forever.  I  remember  that  it  was  a  bright 
moonlight  night,  and  the  shimmering  light  through 
the  dense  foliage  of  the  forest  of  tall  pines  through 
which  we  were  passing  gave  the  scene  a  graveyard 
appearance.  Nothing  was  lacking  save  the  lonesome 
call  of  the  whippoorwill  or  the  mournful  wailing  of 
the  night  owl  to  have  completed  the  picture.  We 
reached  the  place  to  which  we  had  been  ordered. 
After  the  placing  of  the  pickets,  a  courier  came  to 
headquarters  with  an  order  for  Colonel  Smith  to  re 
pair  to  his  former  camp,  as  another  armistice  had 
been  agreed  upon. 

On  the  26th  day  of  April,  1865,  General  Johnston 
surrendered  his  army  of  about  20,000  to  General 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       149 

Sherman.     General  Johnston  had  issued  the  follow 
ing,  which  was  read  to  the  different  commands  : 

Terms  of  a  military  convention  entered  into  the  26th  day  of 
April,  1865,  at  Bennett's  house,  near  Durham  Station,  N.  C, 
between  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  commanding  the  Confederate 
army,  and  Maj.  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  commanding  the  United 
States  army  in  North  Carolina : 

1.  All  acts  of  war  on  the  part  of  the  troops  under  General 
Johnston's  command  to  cease  from  this  date. 

2.  All  arms  and  public  property  to  be  deposited  at  Greens 
boro  and  delivered  to  an  ordnance  officer  of  the  United  States. 

3.  Rolls  of  all  officers  and  men  to  be  made  in  duplicate,  one 
copy  to  be  retained  by  the  commander  of  troops  and  the  other 
to  be  given  to  an  officer  to  be  designated  by  General  Sherman, 
each  officer  and  man  to  give  his  individual  obligation  in  writ 
ing  not  to  take  up  arms  against  the  government  of  the  United 
States  until  properly  released  from  this  obligation. 

4.  The  side  arms  of  officers  and  their  private  horses  and 
baggage  to  be  retained  by  them. 

5.  This  being  done,  all  the  officers  and  men  will  be  permitted 
to  return  to  their  homes,  not  to  be  disturbed  by  the  United 
States  authorities  so  long  as  they  observe  these  obligations  and 
the  laws  in  force  where  they  may  reside. 

JOSEPH  E.  JOHNSTON, 
Commanding  Confederates. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN, 
Commanding  United  States  Forces. 

Supplemental  terms  of  the  same  date,  signed  by 
these  officers,  recite  among  other  things :  "Section 
F.  Private  horses  and  other  private  property  oi  both 
officers  and  men  to  be  retained  by  them."  General 
Johnston  immediately  after  this  issued  his  farewell 
address  to  his  army,  as  follows : 


150       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

General  Orders,  No.  22. 

Comrades:  In  terminating  our  official  relations  I  earnestly 
exhort  you  to  observe  faithfully  the  terms  of  pacification 
agreed  upon  and  to  discharge  the  obligations  of  good  and 
peaceful  citizens  as  well  as  you  have  performed  the  duties  of 
thorough  soldiers  in  the  field.  By  such  a  course  you  will  best 
secure  the  comfort  of  your  family  and  kindred  and  restore 
tranquillity  to  our  country.  You  will  return  to  your  homes 
with  the  admiration  of  our  people  won  by  the  courage  and 
noble  devotion  you  have  displayed  in  this  long  war.  I  shall 
always  remember  with  pride  the  loyal  support  and  generous 
confidence  you  have  given  me.  I  now  part  with  you  with  deep 
regret  and  bid  you  farewell  with  a  feeling  of  cordial  friendship 
and  with  earnest  wishes  that  you  may  hereafter  have  all  the 
prosperity  and  happiness  to  be  found  in  the  world. 

JOSEPH  E.  JOHNSTON,  General  Official; 

KIMLOCK  FALCONER,  A.  A.  G. 

The  Confederate  infantry  received  their  parole  at 
Greensboro,  N.  C,  May  i,  1865.  In  order  to  expe 
dite  the  printing  and  issuing  of  the  paroles,  the  Con 
federate  cavalry,  under  General  Wheeler,  was  sent 
to  Charlotte,  N.  C.,  where  they  received  their  pa 
roles,  dated  May  3,  1865.  General  Wheeler  issued 
the  following  farewell  address  to  his  cavalry  corps : 

Headquarters  Cavalry  Corps,  April  28,  1865. 
Gallant  Comrades:  You  have  fought  your  fight;  your  task 
is  done.  During  a  four  years'  fight  for  liberty  you  have  exhib 
ited  courage,  fortitude,  and  devotion;  you  are  the  victors  of 
more  than  two  hundred  strongly  contested  fields;  you  have 
participated  in  more  than  a  thousand  conflicts  of  arms;  you 
are  heroes,  victors,  and  patriots ;  the  bones  of  your  comrades 
mark  the  battle  fields  upon  the  soil  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Missis 
sippi,  and  Virginia;  you  have  done  all  that  human  exertion 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       151 

could  accomplish.  In  bidding  you  adieu  I  desire  to  tender 
to  you  my  thanks  for  your  gallantry  in  battle  and  your  devo 
tion  at  all  times  to  the  holy  cause  you  have  done  so  much 
to  maintain.  I  desire  also  to  express  my  gratification  for  the 
kind  feeling  you  have  seen  fit  to  extend  toward  myself,  and 
to  evoke  upon  you  the  blessings  of  your  Heavenly  Father,  to 
whom  we  must  always  look  for  support  in  the  hour  of  distress. 

JOE  WHEELER,  Major  General 

After  this  the  troops  scattered  to  their  homes. 
The  First  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment,  the  Ninth 
Battalion  of  Tennessee,  and  a  greater  part  of  the 
Fourth  Tennessee  left  in  a  body,  as  they  resided  in 
Middle  Tennessee.  We  were  provided  with  some 
rations ;  but  after  traveling  some  distance,  we  found 
that  it  would  be  necessary  to  forage  upon  the  coun 
try.  For  the  purpose  of  lightening  the  burden 
upon  an  almost  impoverished  people,  we  separated, 
the  First  Regiment  and  the  Ninth  Battalion  taking 
the  road  to  the  right,  crossing  the  East  Tennessee 
Railroad  at  Strawberry  Plains,  and  the  Fourth 
Tennessee  crossing  at  Sweetwater.  At  these  places 
on  the  railroad  the  commands  were  halted,  and  an 
order  was  presented  from  General  Stoneman  (with 
headquarters  at  Knoxville)  to  dismount  the  men, 
take  their  horses,  and  ship  the  men  by  rail  to 
their  homes.  Of  course  a  protest  was  made  against 
this  proceeding,  as  it  was  expressly  provided  for  by 
the  terms  of  the  articles  of  the  surrender  that  the 
horses  were  the  private  property  of  the  men  and  they 
were  allowed  to  keep  them.  Forty  years  after  this 


152       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

unwarranted  proceeding  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  passed  an  act  to  pay  these  soldiers  for  their 
horses  and  equipment — to  wit:  One  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars  for  the  horse  and  ten  dollars  for 
the  saddle  and  bridle.  This  act  was  limited  to  sol 
diers  that  were  paroled  at  the  surrender  of  the  Con 
federate  army,  and,  in  case  of  death,  to  their  widows. 
Where  there  was  no  widow,  the  children  were  to 
receive  the  benefit.  The  act  provided  also  that  the 
taking  must  have  been  done  by  the  United  States 
soldiers.  Many  have  availed  themselves  of  this  long- 
deferred  justice,  and  in  many  cases  it  has  benefited 
them  and  their  families  immensely. 

About  the  2Oth  of  May,  1865,  the  Middle  Tennes 
see  soldiers  reached  Nashville  to  proceed  to  their 
homes.  It  was  a  sad  home-coming  with  many  of 
them:  to  desolated  homes,  a  war-swept  country, 
families  suffering  for  the  necessities  of  life,  and, 
worst  of  all,  with  a  disreputable  militia  lording  it 
over  a  helpless  people,  with  the  Freedman's  Bureau 
playing  an  important  part  in  the  dirty  work — in 
fact,  it  was  their  cooperator  in  chief.  Many  revolt 
ing  acts  could  be  told  of  its  reign  in  Tennessee  and 
throughout  the  South  after  the  war. 


CHAPTER   XII. 
CASUALTY  LISTS. 

BEFORE  closing  this  short  narrative  I  have  con 
cluded  to  make  a  final  effort  to  obtain  a  list  of  the 
casualties  of  the  Regiment  during  the  war.  To  get 
this  now,  forty-seven  years  after,  I  have  been 
limited  to  very  narrow  resources ;  for  but  few  men 
of  the  companies  are  living  to-day,  and  they  are 
old  and  feeble — many  of  them  in  mind  as  well  as 
body.  I  have,  however,  seen  a  few  personally  and 
addressed  letters  to  others  asking  information  under 
the  following  heads:  First,  the  names  of  such  of 
their  company  as  were  killed  in  battle;  second,  the 
names  of  those  that  were  wounded  in  battle;  and, 
third,  the  names  of  those  who  had  died  of  disease 
during  the  war.  I  thought  I  could  and  ought  to 
present  this  much,  if  it  could  be  obtained,  that  it 
might  be  preserved  in  form.  I  have  succeeded  par 
tially  in  some  instances.  In  one  instance  I  cannot 
find  or  hear  of  a  single  soldier  of  the  company  who 
is  living;  in  others  very  meager  information  is  to  be 
had.  The  companies  composing  the  Regiment  were 
from  different  and  sometimes  distant  sections  of  the 
State.  Those  who  have  responded  to  the  request 
have  done  fairly  well  in  reporting  the  names  of  their 
company  killed  in  battle,  but  the  number  of  wounded 


154       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

and  such  as  died  of  disease  during  the  war  it  will  be 
possible  to  give  only  in  part.  It  is  well  known  that 
every  wound  received  in  battle  counts  in  making  up 
a  true  casualty  report.  It  is  likely  and  probable  that 
many  of  the  wounded  reported  back  in  a  short  time, 
or  maybe,  as  it  was  in  many  instances,  that  the  men 
remained  in  camp  till  they  had  recuperated  sufficient 
ly  for  duty.  In  this  way  no  general  impression  of 
their  being  wounded  is  made  so  long  afterwards. 
But  it  is  a  universal  and  long-established  rule  in  all 
armies  that  where  one  man  is  killed  you  can  count 
with  certainty  that  five  have  been  wounded.  Many 
of  the  men  of  the  Regiment  have  been  wounded  more 
than  once,  some  as  many  as  four  or  five  times,  and  in 
different  engagements.  In  the  conclusion  I  give  I 
count  only  one  wound. 

I  am  selfish  enough  to  say,  and  would  not  in  any 
sense  be  extravagant,  that  the  Fourth  Tennessee 
Cavalry  Regiment  was  one  of  the  best  in  our  army ; 
that  it  had  the  fullest  confidence  of  every  general 
officer  under  whom  it  served,  and  was  frequently 
called  upon  to  do  special  and  particularly  important 
service.  If  the  officers  were  alive,  I  feel  that  they 
would  so  testify  if  called  upon.  I  would  add  that 
the  Confederate  cavalry  were  nothing  more  than 
mounted  infantry;  for  in  many  of  the  hardest  bat 
tles  they  were  dismounted  and  fought  as  infantry, 
leaving  their  horses  in  the  hands  of  the  fourth  man, 
which,  of  course,  reduced  their  strength  in  battle  one- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       155 

fourth.  The  dismounted  men  were  left  in  charge  of 
one  or  two  commissioned  officers,  and  were  expected 
to  stand  at  a  safe  and  close-up  position.  To  be  a 
horse  holder  was  not  always  safe,  for  to  destroy  or 
stampede  the  horse  holders  was  a  special  object  of 
the  enemy.  Shells  were  thrown  among  them  when 
observed,  and  sometimes  the  enemy  would  quietly 
and  secretly  move  to  a  position  and  attack  them.  I 
know  that  at  times  the  dismounted  men  would  have 
to  go  to  the  assistance  of  the  horse  holders.  But 
the  great  damage  was  when  their  position  was  re 
vealed  and  they  were  made  a  special  target  for  ar 
tillerymen.  Our  cavalry  was  armed  with  the  best 
of  infantry  rifles.  Besides  this,  they  carried  in  their 
belts  navy  or  army  pistols,  which  they  used  most 
dexterously  and  efficiently  in  mounted  contests  with 
the  enemy.  They  ignored  the  regulation  saber  and 
threw  them  away  when  given  to  them,  saying  that 
they  could  whip  any  number  of  sabers  with  their  six- 
shooters, 

A  partial  list  of  the  casualties  in  the  Fourth  Ten 
nessee  Cavalry  Regiment  is  as  follows : 

FIELD  OFFICERS. 

Col.  Baxter  Smith,  saber  wound  at  Woodbury,  Term.,  1863 ; 
Lieut.  Col.  Paul  F.  Anderson,  wounded  at  Fort  Donelson, 
Tenn.,  1863;  Maj.  Scott  Bledsoe,  wounded  at  Fort  Donelson, 
Tenn.,  1863;  Capt.  Marcellus  Grissim,  quartermaster,  killed  in 
Wheeler's  raid,  1864. 


156       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

COMPANY  A. 

Killed.—].  C.  Bell,  in  Bragg's  Kentucky  campaign,  1862; 
James  Reed,  at  Perryville,  Ky. ;  W.  J.  Curren,  at  Morrison  Sta 
tion,  Tenn. ;  Frank  Crockett,  at  Morrison  Station,  Tenn. ;  W. 
J.  Neil,  at  Morrison  Station,  Tenn. ;  Henry  Allison,  at  Morri 
son  Station,  Tenn. ;  Sam  Farrow,  at  Morrison  Station,  Tenn. ; 
Z.  Spencer,  at  Fort  Donelson,  Tenn.,  1863;  James  Dark,  at 
Chickamauga,  Ga. ;  James  M.  Turner,  at  Newnan,  Ga.,  1864; 
Jessie  Marlin,  in  Wheeler's  Middle  Tennessee  raid,  1864;  John 
Hopkins,  at  Perryville,  Ky. ;  William  Sandifer,  at  Resaca, 
Ga. ;  W.  F.  Lunn,  at  Perryville,  Ky.  14. 

Wounded  (partial  list).— Capt.  D.  W.  Alexander,  at  Mur- 
freesboro,  Tenn.;  First  Lieut.  A.  R.  McLean,  at  Tunnel  Hil! 
and  Chickamauga,  Ga. ;  Lon  Fagan,  at  Fort  Donelson,  Tenn., 
1863 ;  Polk  Hutton,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn. ;  Jo  Yarbrough,  at 
Franklin,  Tenn.,  1862;  Charlie  Ransom,  at  Murfreesboro, 
Tenn. ;  Sam  Waller,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn. ;  W.  R.  Wynn,  at 
Murfreesboro,  Tenn.;  George  Slaughter,  at  Perryville,  Ky. ; 
John  R.  Mallard,  at  Buckhead  Church,  Ga.,  1864;  James  Ar 
nold,  at  Resaca,  Ga.,  1864;  Billy  Wilson,  at  Tunnel  Hill,  Ga. ; 
Tom  Fagan,  at  Fort  Donelson,  Tenn.,  1863;  Ben  Nevels,  at 
Fort  Donelson,  Tenn. ;  P.  A.  Lyons,  at  Griswoldville,  Ga., 
1864. 

Died  of  Disease  During  War  (partial  list). — James  Davis, 
James  Gentry,  David  Watts,  Tim  Hare,  Nick  Oglesby,  James 
Thompson,  Newt  Hargrove. 

I  hereby  acknowledge  the  assistance  I  have  had 
from  Comrade  Capt.  R.  O.  McLean  for  a  report  of 
casualties  of  his  old  company.  He  made  a  visit  to 
Marshall  County  to  confer  with  the  few  surviving 
comrades  before  submitting  the  list.  He  was  a  citi 
zen  of  Marshall  Count}'  when  his  company  was  first 
organized,  in  1861.  He  was  then  elected  a  lieutenant, 
when  the  company  was  sent  to  West  Virginia,  and  he 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       157 

served  through  the  campaign  Gen.  R.  E.  Lee  made  in 
that  section.  The  company  returned  to  Tennessee  in 
1862.  When  the  company  was  reorganized,  he  did 
not  offer  himself  as  a  candidate;  and  when  it  was  at 
tached  to  and  formed  part  of  the  Fourth  Tennessee 
Cavalry  Regiment,  in  1862,  he  was  made  assistant  to 
the  quartermaster,  Capt.  Marcellus  Grissim.  When 
Grissim  was  killed,  McLean  supplied  his  place  as 
quartermaster,  surrendering  as  such  at  Greensboro, 
N.  C,  in  1865.  He  is  now  a  well-known  and  active 
business  man  in  Nashville,  where  he  resides. 

COMPANY  B. 

Killed. — James  Lindamond,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn. ;  Wil 
liam  Morrell,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.;  A.  A.  Anderson,  at 
Chickamauga,  Ga. ;  William  Wood,  at  Jonesboro,  Ga. ;  James 
Cox,  at  Aiken,  S.  C;  Phillip  O'Dell,  at  Waynesboro,  S.  C. ; 
Second  Lieut.  Joe  Massengale,  at  Fayetteville,  N.  C. ;  M.  T. 
King,  at  Knoxville,  Tenn. ;  —  Hull,  mortally  wounded  and  died 
at  Newnan,  Ga.  9. 

Wounded  (partial  list). — David  Bushong,  Henderson 
Avants,  Nathan  Avants,  Jerry  Luttrell,  W.  J.  Godsey,  Thomas 
Lester,  J.  Y.  Snodgrass,  C.  C.  Woods,  A.  L.  Roder,  J.  T.  Mur- 
rell,  William  Caline,  H.  H.  Delaney  (at  Tracy  City,  Tenn., 
1864),  J-  Sharp  Ryburn,  Third  Lieut.  Gideon  Carmack,  D.  C. 
Carmack,  J.  A.  Henlen,  Abe  McClelland  (arm  amputated  at 
Bentonville,  N.  C.),  William  Sams,  Henry  Mattern,  First. 
Lieut.  Joe  Massengale  (at  Durham  Station,  N.  C.,  1865). 

Dr.  W.  T.  Delaney,  the  surgeon  of  the  Regiment, 
assisted  me  in  making  out  this  list.  He  is  noAV  living 
at  Bristol,  Tenn.,  a  man  of  wealth  and  high  standing 
in  his  community.  He  was  active  and  faithful  in  his 


158       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

duties,  and  is  affectionately  remembered  by  every 
member  of  the  Regiment.  Capt.  C.  H.  Ingle,  of 
Company  B,  was  a  brave  and  most  excellent  officer, 
and  died  in  Virginia  many  years  ago.  He  had  been 
a  member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature. 

COMPANY  C. 

Killed. — William  Trousdale,  at  Woodbury,  Term. ;  Benja 
min  Burford,  at  Woodbury,  Tenn. ;  Arch  Modly,  at  Perry ville, 
Ky. ;  Capt.  Marcellns  Grissim,  in  Wheeler's  raid,  1864;  Arch 
Roland,  at  Fayetteville,  N.  C. ;  Mack  Paty,  at  Bentonville,  N. 
C. ;  Joe  Edwards,  in  Wheeler's  raid,  1864;  John  Dillard,  at 
Griswoldville,  Ga. ;  James  Green,  at  Morrison  Station,  Tenn. ; 
John  Bell,  at  Morrison  Station,  Tenn. ;  Tandy  Sullivan,  in 
Wheeler's  raid,  1864;  Esiah  Gilliham,  in  Wheeler's  raid,  1864; 
Dock  Young,  in  Wheeler's  raid,  1864;  —  Deadman,  at  Aiken, 
S.  C. ;  George  Curren,  at  Bentonville,  N.  C. ;  two  men,  names 
not  remembered,  killed  at  Perryville,  Ky.  17. 

Wounded  (partial  list). — Capt.  George  C.  Moore;  Lieut. 
James  Hogan ;  Lieut.  Robert  Scruggs ;  J.  A.  Stewart,  arm  am 
putated  at  Newnan,  Ga. ;  Joe  Cato,  arm  amputated  at  Fayette 
ville,  N.  C. ;  Handly  Gann,  at  Woodbury,  Tenn. ;  H.  L.  Flippin, 
in  Wheeler's  raid,  1864;  Elijah  Tomlinson,  at  Woodbury, 
Tenn. 

Died  (partial  list).— R.  O.  Donnell,  George  M.  McGee,  Jack 
Minton,  J.  N.  Baker. 

Lieut.  R.  L.  Scruggs  furnishes  the  foregoing  list 
of  casualties  of  the  company.  Lieutenant  Scruggs 
is  at  present  a  well-to-do  farmer  in  Smith  County, 
Tenn.  He  is  an  intelligent  gentleman  and  a  devout 
member  of  the  Church.  He  was  wounded  five  times 
in  battle,  twice  most  seriously.  We  had  no  braver 
or  more  competent  officer,  and  he  was  always  at  his 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       159 

post  when  not  absent  on  account  of  wounds.  He  is 
as  good  a  citizen  now  as  he  was  a  true  soldier  when 
the  war  was  on.  He  says  that  his  company  surren 
dered  at  Greensboro,  N.  C,  numbering-  thirty-three, 
rank  and  file,  and  that  all  but  three  had  been  wound 
ed  in  action,  some  of  them  more  than  once. 

Capt.  George  C.  Moore  was  well  known  in  the 
Regiment  as  the  "Old  Reliable,"  and  was  always  at 
his  post.  He  died  a  few  years  ago  at  New  Middle- 
ton,  Tenn. 

COMPANY  D. 

Killed. — Mart  Robinson,  at  Fort  Donelson,  Tenn.,  1862; 
Thomas  Allen,  at  Duck  River,  Tenn.  (Bragg's  retreat),  1863; 
Clark  Weaver,  at  Chickamauga,  Ga. ;  Frank  Mullinax,  at  Mur- 
f  reesboro,  Tenn. ;  John  Gann,  at  Dake's  Cross  Roads.  Tenn. ; 
Mart  Pemberton,  at  Fort  Donelson,  Tenn.,  1863.  6. 

Wounded  (partial  list).— Lieut.  Bob  Bone;  Lieut.  J.  T. 
Barbee,  three  times  seriously ;  Lieut.  J.  A.  Arnold ;  Ord  Rich- 
erson ;  Turner  Johnson ;  Spencer  Dillon ;  Newt  Powell ;  Capt. 
J.  M.  Phillips,  at  Chickamauga,  Ga. ;  Tom  Floridy,  at  Chicka 
mauga,  Ga. ;  Tom  Mont,  at  Chickamauga,  Ga. ;  Hugh  Jarman, 
at  Chickamauga,  Ga. ;  William  Allen,  at  Readyville,  Tenn. 

Died  (partial  list). — Dick  Odum,  at  Camp  Morton  (Ind.) 
Prison ;  Bill  Knox,  at  Fort  Delaware  Prison. 

Rev.  J.  T.  Barbee,  of  Sturgis,  Ky.,  has  furnished 
the  names  of  the  few  killed  accredited  to  Company 
D.  He  has  been  for  a  number  of  years  a  minister  of 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  and  has  held 
many  high  positions.  There  was  no  braver  soldier 
in  the  army.  He  was  faithful  and  true  in  every  walk 
of  life.  He  was  wounded  seriouslv  two  or  three 


times  in  battle,  and  surrendered  with  his  company 
at  Greensboro,  N.  C,  in  1865,  with  the  rank  of  lieu 
tenant.  Lieut.  J.  A.  Arnold  has  since  furnished  a 
few  additional  names.  He  is  a  resident  of  Wilson 
County,  a  well-known  and  most  worthy  citizen.  He 
was  in  command  of  Company  D  at  the  surrender. 
First  Lieutenant  Barbee  was  acting  commissary  of 
the  Regiment. 

Capt.  J.  M.  Phillips  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in 
1910.  He  was  a  minister  of  one  of  the  Baptist 
Churches  of  that  city  at  the  time.  He  was  not  with 
the  Regiment  after  the  raid  into  Tennessee,  in  Octo 
ber,  1863. 

COMPANY  E. 

Killed.— John  R.  Rushing,  at  Aiken,  S.  C.,  1864;  Jack  Nealy, 
at  Aiken,  S.  C. ;  Legran  Walkup,  at  Aiken,  S.  C. ;  Dan  Porter- 
field,  at  Fort  Donelson,  Tenn.,  1863;  Tilman  Tittle,  at  Fort 
Donelson,  Tenn.;  Joe  Hare,  at  Aiken,  S.  C;  Tom  Vance,  at 
Perryville,  Ky. ;  John  Armstrong,  in  battle  of  Nashville,  1864 ; 
Tom  Meely,  in  Middle  Tennessee  raid,  1864;  Charles  Milton, 
in  Middle  Tennessee  raid,  1864 ;  John  Mitchell,  in  Middle  Ten 
nessee  raid,  1863;  E.  J.  Hawkins,  in  Middle  Tennessee  raid, 
1863.  12. 

Wounded. — Lieut.  Hugh  L.  Preston,  four  times,  last  wound 
at  Durham  Station,  N.  C. ;  Tom  Doak,  at  Atlanta,  Ga. ;  Boney 
Preston,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.;  A.  W.  Kennedy,  at  Fort 
Donelson,  Tenn.;  Nile  Mitchell,  at  Chickamauga,  Ga.;  Lieut. 
John  Fathera,  at  Chickamauga,  Ga. 

Died. — Burr  Reid,  in  a  Northern  prison. 

I  am  indebted  to  Lieut.  Hugh  L.  Preston  for  the 
casualty  report  of  Company  E.  He  is  now  a  worthy 
citizen  of  Woodbury,  Tenn.,  and  has  represented  his 


constituency  both  in  the  Upper  and  Lower  Houses  of 
the  Tennessee  Legislature.  He  was  young,  active, 
and  brave  as  a  soldier,  and  was  in  every  engagement 
of  his  company  during  the  war.  Perhaps  he  was 
absent  for  a  short  time,  but  only  when  suffering 
from  wounds  received  in  battle.  He  has  the  distinc 
tion  to  have  been  in  command  of  those  soldiers  who 
fired  the  last  guns  before  the  surrender  of  the  Army 
of  Tennessee  at  Greensboro,  N.  C,  April  26,  1865, 
which  occurred  but  a  few  days  afterwards.  He  is  as 
worthy  and  honorable  as  a  citizen  as  he  was  brave 
and  true  as  a  soldier. 

Capt.  H.  A.  Wyly,  who  commanded  Company  E, 
was  as  gallant  in  battle  as  he  was  intelligent  and 
courteous  as  a  gentleman.  He  died  many  years  ago 
at  his  home,  at  Woodbury,  Term.  He  was  one  of 
Woodbury's  most  worthy  and  public-spirited  citizens. 

COMPANY  F. 

Killed. — James  Burke,  at  Chickamauga,  Ga. ;  Jack  Carder, 
at  Saltville,  Va. ;  John  Dillard.  3. 

Wounded  (partial  list). — Capt.  James  R.  Lester,  at  Mur- 
f  reesboro,  Term. ;  Lieut.  W.  H.  Phillips,  at  Tracy  City,  Term. ; 
Lieutenant  Burgess,  at  Murf reesboro,  Tenn. ;  William  Lester, 
leg  amputated  at  Kennesaw  Mountain,  Ga. ;  Zack  Thompson, 
at  Lebanon,  Tenn. ;  Kirk  B.  and  P.  Sherrill  Harvey. 

Capt.  James  R.  Lester,  of  Company  F,  was  a  most 
gallant,  dashing  officer,  handsome  in  person,  and 
always  rode  the  finest  horse  in  the  Regiment.  He 
served  from  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  was 
wounded  several  times  in  battle.  He  died  some  years 
ii 


ago  at  Lebanon,  Tenn.  He  was  a  prominent  and 
much-beloved  physician.  It  is  said  that  the  wound 
received  in  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro  contributed 
materially  to  his  death.  When  he  surrendered  at 
Greensboro,  N.  C,  he  was  Acting  Inspector  General 
on  the  staff  of  Col.  Baxter  Smith,  commander  of  the 
brigade. 

COMPANY  G. 

Killed.— D.  C.  Witherspoon,  at  Perryville,  Ky.;  C.  M. 
Webber,  Triune,  Tenn.;  James  Doughtry,  in  the  Atlanta  cam 
paign,  1864;  James  A.  Brandon,  in  Wheeler's  raid,  1863;  Joe 
A.  Rushing,  in  South  Carolina,  1864;  D.  W.  Tolbert,  in  South 
Carolina,  1864;  James  Hughes,  at  Bradyville,  Tenn.  7. 

Wounded  (partial  list).— Capt.  J.  W.  Nichol,  three  times, 
last  at  Bentonville,  S.  C. ;  J.  E.  Neely,  J.  C.  Coleman,  J.  F. 
Dunn,  W.  P.  Gather,  John  Gordon,  John  Harris,  H.  J.  Ivie, 
Houston  Miller,  W.  M.  Spain,  W.  W.  Grey,  Lieut.  John  A. 
Sagely,  Lieut.  F.  A.  McKnight,  Sergt.  W.  R.  Fowler,  A.  W. 
Robinson,  W.  H.  Youree,  Walker  Todd,  A.  R.  Patrick,  C.  M. 
Roberts,  L.  M.  Roberts,  Sam  Witherspoon,  Isaiah  Cooper,  J. 
E.  James,  Lieut.  Dave  Youree. 

Wounded  and  Died  in  Prison  (partial  list). — Lieut.  J.  A. 
Sagely,  Calep  Todd,  Alfred  Todd,  Preston  Carnahan,  W.  M. 
Bynum,  D.  C.  Jones,  Gid  Martin,  Arch  Robinson,  Jesse  Robin 
son,  John  E.  Jones,  Frank  Youree. 

Capt.  J.  W.  Nichol,  of  Company  G,  is  the  last 
surviving  captain  of  the  Regiment.  Three  were 
killed  in  battle,  and  the  others  have  died  since  the 
surrender.  He  was  dangerously  wounded  four 
times  in  battle,  the  last  wound  being  received  at 
Bentonville,  N.  C.,  the  last  general  engagement  of 
the  Army  of  Tennessee,  a  few  weeks  before  the  sur- 


.*  •&•    & 


render.  It  was  thought  at  the  time  that  his  wound 
was  mortal ;  but,  to  the  surprise  of  every  one,  he  was 
back  with  the  company  in  a  short  time  and  surren 
dered  with  them.  He  had  the  distinction  of  having 
had  a  full  company  during  the  whole  war.  He  was 
a  thorough  disciplinarian,  obedient  to  every  order, 
and  was  kind  and  attentive  to  the  necessities  of  his 
men,  who  held  him  in  high  regard  and  respect.  He 
is  to-day  an  active  business  man  at  his  home  in  Mur- 
freesboro,  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits,  an  hon 
orable  and  most  worthy  citizen.  I  am  indebted  to 
him  for  the  casualty  report  of  his  company. 

COMPANY  H. 

Killed. — Lieut.  Allen  B.  Green,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn. ; 
Lieut.  William  Gaut,  at  Cedartown,  Ga. ;  James  Bennett,  at 
Cedartown,  Ga. ;  Moses  Bennett,  at  Chickamauga,  Ga. ;  James 
Carpenter,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn. ;  Walter  Magill,  at  Mur 
freesboro,  Tenn. ;  James  M.  Pickett,  at  Cumberland  Mountain, 
Tenn.,  1863;  Jack  Smith,  at  Franklin,  Tenn.;  William  Shell, 
at  Mill  Springs,  Ky. ;  James  Williams,  at  Perryville,  Ky. ; 
William  Massengale,  in  Wheeler's  raid,  1864;  John  Pickett,  in 
Wheeler's  raid,  1864.  12. 

Wounded  (partial  list).— H.  H.  Harron,  at  Chickamauga, 
Ga. ;  Hickman  Crouch,  at  Newnan,  Ga. ;  Capt.  Sam  Glover,  at 
Morrison  Station,  Tenn.;  W.  W.  Warren,  at  Winchester, 
Tenn.;  Thomas  Godsey,  at  Morrison  Station,  Tenn.;  Dan 
Jackson,  at  Chickamauga,  Ga. ;  John  McCall,  at  Morrison  Sta 
tion,  Tenn. ;  James  McDonough,  arm  amputated  at  Benton- 
ville,  N.  C. ;  Richard  Martin,  saber  wound,  1864 ;  William 
Stone,  at  Fishing  Creek,  Ky. ;  Isaac  Whitecotten,  wounded 
four  times  in  battle ;  O.  K.  Mitchell,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn. ; 
Robert  Shumate,  at  Perryville,  Ky. ;  Martin  M.  White,  four 
times  during  the  war. 


164       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Died  (partial  list). — William  Cupp,  at  Chattanooga,  Tenn., 
1862;  Pleasant  Bell,  at  Knoxville,  Tenn.;  Levi  Austin,  at 
Knoxville,  Tenn.;  John  A.  Aiken,  in  prison,  1864;  Jonathan 
Bailey,  at  Camp  Chase,  Ohio,  1864 ;  Doc  Cupp,  at  Chattanooga, 
Tenn.,  1866;  Charles  M.  Douglass,  at  Chattanooga,  Tenn.; 
Arch  D.  Durham,  in  Georgia,  1864;  William  Goad,  in  prison, 
1863;  Rtifus  Godges,  at  Jasper,  Tenn.,  1862;  John  B.  Hilton, 
in  prison,  1864;  Lieut.  William  Light,  in  Rock  Island  Prison, 
1864;  James  M.  Morris,  in  prison  at  Chickamauga,  Ga.,  1863; 
William  Smith,  in  a  hospital  in  Georgia,  1864;  Houston  Sutton, 
at  Carthage,  Tenn.,  1862;  Alex  Tacket,  in  prison,  1864;  David 
Thompson,  1862;  Thomas  Watkins,  October,  1862;  James  B. 
Winder,  at  Gainesboro,  Tenn.,  1862 ;  Alonzo  Williams,  in  Ken 
tucky  campaign,  1862. 

I  am  indebted  to  Comrade  J.  C.  Ivey,  of  Company 
H,  for  the  report  from  his  company.  He  is  living 
at  Clear  Lake,  Tex.,  and  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in 
that  vicinity  and  a  well-known  and  most  respect 
able  citizen.  He  is  the  only  one  who  presents  one 
of  the  last  pay  rolls  of  his  company,  which  verifies 
fully  the -report  he  makes — facts  that  stand  record 
ed  at  the  time  they  occurred.  He  enlisted  in  his 
company  at  the  beginning,  and  served  continuous 
ly  till  the  surrender,  making  an  excellent  soldier 
through  his  four  years  of  service.  I  thank  him  for 
his  response  to  my  letter  and  his  convincing  report. 

COMPANY   I. 

Killed. — Fentress  Atkins,  at  McMinnville,  Tenn.,  1862; 
Cullom  Jowett,  at  McMinnville,  Tenn.;  James  Padgett,  at 
Fort  Donelson,  Tenn.,  1863;  Elias  Owens,  at  New  Hope 
Church,  Ga.,  1864;  Capt.  Robert  Bledsoe,  at  Sparta,  Tenn., 
in  Wheeler's  raid,  1863;  A.  Bledsoe,  at  Sparta,  Tenn.,  in 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       165 

Wheeler's  raid,  1863 ;  Lieut.  Foster  Bowman,  at  Sparta,  Term., 
in  Wheeler's  raid,  1863;  Acting  Adjt.  E.  Crozier,  1865;  Wil 
liam  Deason,  Pleasant  Poor,  John  Smith,  Mike  Hill,  Lafayette 
Hill,  and  Robert  Brown,  in  Wheeler's  raid.  14. 

Wounded  (partial  list).— Lieut.  J.  W.  Storey,  at  McMinn- 
ville  and  New  Hope  Church,  Ga.,  1864;  B.  Porter  Harrison, 
at  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  in  1865 ;  James  Singleton,  at  New  Hope 
Church,  arm  amputated. 

John  W.  Storey,  now  a  prominent  member  of  the 
bar  at  Harrison,  Ark.,  furnishes  the  casualty  list  of 
Company  I.  He  was  the  sergeant  of  his  company 
for  some  time  during  the  war,  and  was  one  of  the 
best  we  had.  As  adjutant  of  the  Regiment  I  never 
had  trouble  with  his  reports  or  the  many  orders 
made  upon  his  company  for  information;  they  were 
always  clear,  concise,  and  exactly  what  was  called 
for.  He  was  made  a  lieutenant  on  the  field  of  Ben- 
tonville  for  his  bravery  and  efficiency  in  every  duty 
as  a  soldier.  He  was  in  every  engagement,  and  was 
wounded  twice  in  battle,  on  both  occasions  seri 
ously.  I  am  also  indebted  to  him  for  several  valu 
able  papers  which  he  had  preserved,  and  which  he 
furnished  to  me. 

COMPANY  K. 

Killed.— T.  J.  Allen,  at  Elk  River,  Tenn.,  1863;  Ed  Han 
cock,  at  Munfordville,  Ky. ;  Joe  Barnes,  at  Murfreesboro, 
Tenn. ;  Jesse  Horton,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn. ;  John  Bowman, 
at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn. ;  Robert  Hearn,  at  Lebanon,  Tenn. ; 
James  Hearn,  at  Tracy  City,  Tenn. ;  Joe  Newsom,  at  Morrison 
Station,  Tenn.;  Jack  McDonell,  at  Morrison  Station,  Tenn.; 
Ed  Smith,  at  Kennesaw  Mountain,  Ga. ;  Andrew  Van  Trease, 
at  Calhoun,  Ga. ;  Joe  Cammeron,  at  Grassy  Cove,  Tenn. ;  Wil- 


Ham  Neal,  at  Marietta,  Ga. ;  R.  A.  Davis,  at  Bentonville,  N.  C. ; 
John  Raine,  at  Manchester,  Tenn. ;  Tobe  Wharton,  in  Rock 
Island  Prison.  16. 

Wounded  (partial  list).— Lieut.  William  Corbett,  at  Chick- 
amauga,  Ga. ;  Lieut.  DeWitt  Anderson,  at  Rocky  Face  Moun 
tain,  Ga.,  1864;  Jack  Barton;  John  Corbett,  at  Resaca,  Ga. ; 
George  Farnsworth,  at  Tracy  City,  Tenn. ;  Jim  Hearn,  at 
Tracy  City,  Tenn.;  William  Stonewall,  at  Big  Shanty,  Ga., 
1864;  Frank  Anderson,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.;  Henry  Nelson, 
at  Crow  Valley,  Tenn. 

Frank  Anderson  was  under  seventeen  years  of 
age  when  he  enlisted  in  a  cavalry  company  in  1861. 
He  surrendered  April  26,  1865,  at  Greensboro,  N. 
C.  So  he  saw  and  participated  in  all,  from  beginning 
to  close.  Company  K  was  at  first  the  escort  of  Gen 
eral  Wharton,  and  afterwards  of  different  command 
ing  generals  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee.  Anderson 
was  a  great  favorite,  and  was  frequently  called 
upon  by  officers  to  carry  their  orders  to  parts  of  the 
field  where  the  battle  raged  hottest  and  fiercest.  His 
character  was  that  of  a  brave  and  reliable  soldier. 
He  has  been  an  active  and  well-known  merchant  of 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  since  the  war,  and  is  still  actively 
engaged  in  business.  We  are  indebted  to  him  for  a 
full  report  of  his  company's  killed  in  battle. 

COMPANY  L. 

Killed. — Capt.  J.  J.  Parton,  at  Chickamauga,  Ga. ;  Newt 
Cashius,  at  Chickamauga,  Ga.,  1863 ;  —  Bell,  at  Lookout  Moun 
tain,  1864.  3. 

Wounded. — Lieut.  William  Henry. 

Recapitulation:  112  killed  multiplied  by  5  equals 


m  m  O*  J* 


560  wounded,  plus  112  killed  equals  072  killed  and 
wounded. 

The  Regiment  never  had  a  battle  line  of  over  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  rifles,  which  diminished  as  the  war 
progressed.  Of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  who  sur 
rendered  at  Greensboro,  N.  C.,  more  than  half  of 
them  had  been  wounded  in  battle,  some  of  them 
more  than  once  and  in  different  engagements. 

As  stated  before,  I  have  taken  extra  pains  to  see 
and  write  to  men  of  all  the  companies  to  obtain  a  list 
of  the  killed  and  wounded  and  those  that  died  of  dis 
ease  during  the  war.  I  have  been  able  to  get  a  fair 
list  of  the  killed  in  most  of  the  companies ;  but  I  find 
it  impossible,  as  they  have  said,  to  give  the  names  of 
all  the  wounded  and  those  that  have  died  during  the 
war.  Imperfect  as  it  is,  I  have  thought  best  to  pub 
lish  such  as  have  been  given  to  me.  I  have  delayed 
and  kept  open  the  list  till  the  last  minute,  so  anxious 
have  I  been  to  do  justice  to  all.  When  we  compare 
this  list  of  wounded  with  the  list  of  killed  in  battle, 
it  is  apparent  upon  its  face  that  the  greater  number 
of  the  wounded  have  not  been  reported,  so  I  am 
forced  to  apply  the  long  and  well-established  rule  in 
all  armies  of  five  wounded  to  one  killed  in  battle, 
which  is  approximately  correct.  Aside  from  this,  it 
will  be  seen  from  said  reports  that  some  comrades 
have  been  able  to  make  but  insignificant  reports  of 
their  killed  in  battle.  Every  surviving  member  of 
the  Regiment  knows  that  they  were  as  valiant  in 


1 68       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

battle  as  their  comrades  of  the  other  companies.  It 
is  their  misfortune  that  none  are  left  to  testify  for 
them. 

The  greater  part  of  the  companies  in  the  Fourth 
Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment  had  on  their  rolls  as 
soldiers  from  125  to  130  names.  None  of  them  at 
any  one  time  had  so  many,  but  enlisted  that  many 
during  the  service.  The  nature  of  the  service  of  a 
cavalryman  carries  him  to  different  and  distant  parts 
of  the  country,  giving  him  the  opportunity  to  collect 
and  bring  to  the  company  not  only  absentees,  but 
recruits.  The  body  of  the  Regiment  was  composed 
of  active  young  men,  born,  as  the  saying  is,  upon 
horseback,  which  well  fitted  them  for  that  arm  of  the 
service.  More  than  that,  they  were  lovers  of  the 
horse  and  rode  only  the  best  that  could  be  had. 
In  the  Confederate  cavalry  the  cavalryman  had  to 
furnish  his  own  horse.  It  was  not  so  in  the  Federal 
army.  The  government  provided  them  with  horses, 
and  it  could  not  be  expected  that  he  would  give  the 
attention  to  his  horse  that  the  Confederate  would. 
This  leaves  us  to  say  that  the  Confederate  cavalry 
man  did  more  effective  and  better  service  than  the 
Federal  cavalryman.  There  was  no  comparison  to 
be  made  between  the  cavalry  horses  of  the  two  ar 
mies.  Generally  speaking,  the  Confederate  horse  was 
of  the  best  blood  and  make-up  that  could  be  found — 
in  other  words,  he  was  purely  bred  from  the  best  sires 
—while  the  Federal  horse  was  pretty  much  of  the 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       169 

rough  order,  large,  inactive,  and  easily  broken  down 
and  worn  out.  A  good  Confederate  cavalryman 
would  go  hungry  himself  before  he  would  permit  his 
mount  to  suffer  for  necessary  food.  I  have  seen  him 
time  and  again  carry  in  a  sack  behind  his  saddle  ra 
tions  of  corn  hundreds  of  miles  to  meet  an  emergency 
rather  than  let  his  horse  go  hungry.  I  have  seen  him 
give  a  hundred  dollars  for  six  horseshoe  nails  and 
tack  on  the  shoe  himself  rather  than  permit  his  horse 
to  go  lame.  He  and  his  horse  consequently  were  al 
ways  ready  for  active  service,  and  it  was  this  that 
made  him  more  effective  as  a  soldier  than  his  enemy. 

The  greatest  loss  that  the  Regiment  sustained  was 
when  the  men  were  dismounted  to  fight  as  infantry; 
they  were  armed  like  the  infantry  and  usually 
fought  as  infantry.  I  have  said  that  upon  the  organ 
ization  of  the  Regiment  it  numbered  about  one  thou 
sand,  rank  and  file.  It  is  also  well  to  know  that  when 
a  cavalry  regiment  is  dismounted  it  loses  one-fourth 
of  its  effective  strength  by  its  horse  holders.  The 
largest  force  the  Regiment  ever  had  in  line  on  foot 
was  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty.  This  was  at 
Chickamauga,  which  occurred  just  after  a  two 
months'  rest  at  Rome,  Ga.,  when  we  took  time  to 
gather  up  all  absentees  and  many  recruits.  Never 
after  that  did  we  have  so  many  on  foot  as  infantry 
men. 

It  must  also  be  taken  into  account  that  after  the 
organization  it  was  necessary  to  make  many  non- 


170       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

combatant  details.  Many  were  discharged  for  dis 
ability,  from  wounds  received  in  action,  sickness,  etc. 
Others  were  discharged  from  being  over  and  under 
the  age  limit.  Many  prisoners  were  taken  by  the 
enemy.  The  exchange  of  prisoners  at  all  times  was 
slow;  but  for  two  years  or  more  before  the  war 
closed  no  exchange  of  prisoners  was  made,  and  I 
suppose  that  the  Regiment  had  a  hundred  men  who 
were  not  released  from  prison  until  after  the  war 
closed.  And  I  am  pretty  sure  that  we  had  our  share 
of  those  who  got  tired  and  "just  quit  fighting."  All 
of  these  causes  greatly  reduced  the  line  of  battle; 
and  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  that  surrendered 
at  Greensboro,  N.  C,  April  26,  1865,  at  least  three- 
fourths  of  them  had  been  wounded  in  battle,  and 
many  of  them  more  than  twice  in  different  engage 
ments, 

I  have  finished  what  I  have  to  say  forty-seven 
years  afterwards.  It  is  necessarily  incomplete,  for 
many  things  have  faded  from  my  memory,  and 
I  speak  altogether  from  personal  recollection.  I 
have  thought  it  proper  to  give  a  cursory  history  of 
the  Army  of  Tennessee  from  the  fact  that  the 
Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment  was  a  part  of 
it,  participating  in  all  of  its  campaigns,  marches,  and 
battles  from  October,  1862,  to  the  surrender,  except 
Hood's  campaign  against  Nashville.  When  General 
Hood  left  Atlanta,  he  ordered  Wheeler  to  remain 
there  and  to  march  in  whatever  direction  Sherman 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       171 

moved ;  hence  we  went  to  the  sea,  circumscribing  as 
much  as  possible  the  burning  and  pillaging  of  Sher 
man's  large  army  of  seventy  thousand.  We  met  the 
Army  of  Tennessee  again  in  North  Carolina,  and 
served  with  it  till  the  surrender  at  Greensboro,  N.  C, 
April  26,  1865.  I  would  have  been  pleased  to  men 
tion  the  name  of  every  gallant  soldier  of  the  Regi 
ment,  but  it  is  now  impossible  to  get  it ;  and  to  name 
some  and  leave  out  others  equally  as  meritorious 
would  not  be  proper.  I  have  had  to  speak  of  some 
who  have  given  me  valuable  assistance  in  compiling 
the  casualty  list  of  their  company.  I  trust  that  this 
may  be  a  sufficient  apology,  and  that  no  one  will  be 
in  the  slightest  degree  offended  by  the  action. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
GEN.  JOSEPH  E.  JOHNSTON  AND  OTHER  OFFICERS. 

THE  Confederate  army  had  five  full  generals, 
ranking  in  date  of  their  commission  as  follows : 
Samuel  Cooper,  whose  headquarters  were  at  Rich 
mond,  Va.,  the  capital,  and  who  was  never  assigned 
to  the  field ;  Robert  E.  Lee,  Albert  Sidney  Johnston, 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  and  G.  P.  Beauregard.  All  of 
them  had  resigned  from  the  United  States  army  to 
join  the  Confederate  States  army. 

Joseph  E.  Johnston  was  fourth  on  the  list,  but  he 
was  the  highest  ranking  officer  who  had  thus  re 
signed.  He  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
Army  of  Tennessee  in  1864,  when  it  had  expended 
its  greatest  strength,  there  being  no  resources  to 
draw  upon.  He  was  confronted  by  an  army  double 
the  numerical  strength  of  his  own,  with  all  the  re 
sources  at  hand  that  could  be  asked  for.  Much  of 
the  territory  of  the  Confederate  States  and  its  most 
resourceful  sections  were  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
The  Mississippi  River  had  been  closed  to  Confed 
erate  navigation,  foreign  intervention  had  become  a 
dead  letter,  the  exchange  of  prisoners  had  indefinite 
ly  ceased,  and  the  blockade  of  Southern  ports  com 
pleted  the  hope  of  receiving  resources  from  the  out 
side.  Truly  was  the  South  hermetically  sealed. 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       173 

Who  can  say  that  the  tactics  assumed  by  General 
Johnston  in  his  Atlanta  campaign  were  not  the  best 
that  could  be  used  under  all  the  circumstances?  Or 
that,  if  he  could  have  succeeded  at  all,  it  must  have 
been  by  the  military  operations  he  adopted?  Do 
not  the  operations  of  General  Hood  in  a  few  weeks 
thereafter  prove  this  to  be  true?  For,  after  fighting 
a  few  battles  around  Atlanta,  losing  as  many  men 
as  Johnston  did  in  his  campaign  from  Dalton  to 
Atlanta,  and  then  falling  back  to  Jonesboro,  thirty 
miles  south,  where  he  fought  Sherman,  all  without 
material  results,  he  then  moved  to  the  rear  of  Atlan 
ta,  continuing  his  campaign  against  Nashville,  that 
terminated  so  disastrously.  Again,  were  they  not  the 
same  tactics  that  General  Lee  was  inaugurating 
when  he  left  Petersburg  with  his  little  army,  re 
treating  to  Appomattox,  which  movement,  we  can 
see  now,  was  made  when  it  was  too  late  ? 

I  am  not  able  to  say  what  would  have  been  the 
result  of  Johnston's  proposed  movement  at  Atlanta, 
but  I  can  say  this :  that  it  promised  more  success  than 
any  that  was  attempted  later.  The  restoration  of 
General  Johnston  to  the  command  of  the  Army  of 
Tennessee  looked  as  if  Mr.  Davis  was  repudiating 
his  order  of  a  few  months  before.  General  John 
ston  in  accepting  it  displayed  a  magnanimity  of 
character  and  patriotism  never  excelled.  The  army 
from  which  he  had  been  so  summarily  dismissed  was 
now  shattered  and  broken  to  pieces,  and  the  Con  fed- 


174       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

eracy  itself  was  staggering  to  its  downfall.  His 
desire  to  share  the  fate  of  his  soldiers  and  country 
men  must  have  been  the  only  motive. 

When  Joseph  E.  Johnston  died,  in  1891,  a  large 
and  representative  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Nash 
ville  was  held  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  to 
do  honor  to  his  memory,  and  the  following  preamble 
and  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted — to  wit: 

Mr.  Chairman:  Your  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the 
resolutions  touching  upon  the  life  and  character  of  Gen.  Joseph 
E.  Johnston  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following: 

General  Johnston  died  in  the  City  of  Washington  on  the 
evening  of  March  21,  1891.  Society  is  so  constructed  that 
individual  character  becomes  prominent  and  conspicuous  by 
deed  and  action  no  less  than  by  expressed  thought.  As  we 
look  back  through  the  ages,  we  mark  some  names  that  shine 
as  beacon  lights  along  the  way,  whose  characters  we  accept 
as  prototypes  of  all  their  contemporaries.  Joseph  E.  Johnston 
is  the  Confederate  soldier's  model — not  from  the  fact  alone 
that  he  was  a  good  soldier,  but  time,  having  dealt  gently  with 
him,  lengthening  his  days  through  the  trying  years  that  have 
passed  since  the  war,  has  completed  the  picture,  and  as  we 
behold  the  man  we  cannot  but  exclaim :  "As  grand  in  peace  as 
be  was  valiant  in  war."  It  is  hardly  permissible  by  resolution 
to  speak  at  length  of  our  deceased  comrade ;  and  it  is  sufficient 
for  this  occasion  to  say  that  he  was  born  in  Old  Virginia  in 
1807;  was  educated  at  West  Point  Military  Academy,  grad 
uating  thirteenth  in  the  distinguished  class  of  1829,  numbering 
forty-six  graduates ;  was  a  lieutenant  upon  the  staff  of  General 
Scott  during  the  Indian  War  of  1832-36;  was  a  soldier  in  the 
war  with  Mexico,  was  wounded  three  times  in  action,  was 
promoted  three  times  for  gallantry  during  the  war,  and  was 
carried  from  the  field  of  Cerro  Gordo  desperately  wounded; 
in  1855  was  made  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  First  United  States 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       175 

Cavalry,  and  in  1860  was  made  a  brigadier  general  and  as 
signed  to  the  position  of  Quartermaster  General  of  the  United 
States  army. 

Upon  the  secession  of  his  State,  he  resigned  the  position 
and  repaired  to  Richmond.  He  was  the  highest  ranking  officer 
who  resigned  from  the  United  States  army  to  join  the  Con 
federacy.  He  was  placed  in  command  at  Harper's  Ferry,  at 
that  time  thought  to  be  its  most  important  position.  He  with 
drew  from  the  enemy's  front  at  Harper's  Ferry  and  came  upon 
the  field  of  Manassas  in  time  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle  and 
rout  the  army  of  General  McDowell.  He  was  in  command  of 
the  Army  of  Virginia  in  1862  and  resisted  the  advance  of 
General  McClelland  as  he  approached  Richmond  by  way  of  the 
Peninsula.  He  was  seriously  wounded  at  Seven  Pines  on  the 
3  ist  of  May,  1862,  while  leading  his  columns  to  the  attack. 
This  wound  incapacitated  him  for  service  for  many  months. 
General  Lee  succeeded  him  in  command  of  that  army.  Gen 
eral  Johnston  was  in  command  in  Mississippi  for  a  short  time, 
and  in  the  first  months  of  1864  he  superseded  General  Bragg 
in  the  command  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee  after  the  disaster 
at  Missionary  Ridge.  It  was  here  that  he  displayed  his  won 
derful  talent  in  reorganizing  that  army  and  bringing  it  to  its 
highest  state  of  perfection  in  a  few  months'  time.  When 
Sherman  began  his  move  on  Atlanta  in  the  spring  of  1864,  and 
as  he  approached  Tunnel  Hill,  Ga.,  on  his  first  day's  march, 
the  battle  opened  in  earnest,  and  for  seventy  days  and  seventy 
nights  its  roar  never  ceased  to  reverberate.  Outnumbered 
almost  two  to  one,  every  flank  movement  of  the  enemy  was 
met  by  a  line  of  battle.  At  Resaca,  New  Hope  Church, 
Kennesaw  Mountain,  and  Marietta  the  heavy  skirmishing  re 
sulted  in  battles,  but  in  no  instance  in  a  general  engagement. 
Some  days  upon  the  skirmish  line  and  when  the  fighting 
would  not  rise  to  the  dignity  of  battle  the  loss  would  be  al 
most  as  great  as  the  United  States  suffered  in  any  battle  in 
the  war  with  Mexico.  Well-authenticated  battle  reports  show 
that  General  Sherman's  loss  on  his  march  to  Atlanta  was 
fully  40,000,  while  Johnston's  was  less  than  10,000.  During 


176      Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

the  seventy  days'  fighting  and  moving  from  position  to  posi 
tion  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  no  ammunitions  or  provisions 
of  any  description  were  lost,  except  some  siege  guns  that 
were  left  at  Resaca,  having  no  transportation  for  their  re 
moval.  The  morale  of  the  army  was  not  impaired  in  any 
particular,  and  its  movements  were  executed  with  the  preci 
sion  of  a  dress  parade.  No  commander  could  have  possessed 
to  a  greater  degree  the  supreme  confidence  of  his  men,  and 
no  general  rested  more  securely  upon  the  courage  of  his  sol 
diers. 

Upon  reaching  the  front  at  Atlanta  in  1864,  General  John 
ston  was  relieved  and  General  Hood  placed  in  command  of 
the  Army  of  Tennessee.  It  is  impossible  to  express  the  sur 
prise  this  order  created,  from  the  highest  officer  to  the  hum 
blest  private.  A  great  calamity  seemed  to  have  spread  itself 
over  the  army,  and  the  developments  a  week  or  ten  days 
thereafter  confirmed  the  great  mistake  that  had  been  made. 

When  the  broken  fragments  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee  as 
sembled  in  North  Carolina  in  the  spring  of  1865,  General 
Johnston  was  called  to  its  command  again.  A  forlorn  hope, 
indeed!  His  presence  revived  the  spirits  of  those  of  his  old 
soldiers  who  were  left,  and  they  felt  strong  and  confident 
again,  as  was  shown  in  the  hotly  contested  battle  of  Benton- 
ville  near  the  close  of  the  war.  The  end  came  in  a  few  weeks 
thereafter.  General  Lee  had  surrendered  at  Appomattox. 
Two  hundred  thousand  soldiers  were  concentrating  under 
General  Sherman,  and  nothing  was  left  to  Johnston  but  to 
surrender  his  less  than  20,000  soldiers  upon  the  best  terms 
possible.  In  the  negotiations  that  followed  General  Johnston 
showed  himself  to  be  a  diplomatist  and  statesman. 

In  his  farewell  address  to  the  army  Johnston  urged  his 
soldiers  "to  observe  faithfully  the  terms  of  pacification,  and 
to  discharge  the  obligations  of  good  and  peaceful  citizens  as 
well  as  you  have  performed  the  duties  of  thorough  soldiers  in 
the  field."  Such,  in  brief,  is  his  military  history.  He  was  the 
last  of  the  great  commanders  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee. 

Albert  Sidney  Johnston  fell  at  Shiloh,  Gen.  Braxton  Bragg 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       177 

died  soon  after  the  war,  and  Gen.  J.  B.  Hood  a  few  years 
later.  Under  their  leadership  the  Army  of  Tennessee  made  its 
glorious  history  and  won  imperishable  honor.  The  circum 
stances  that  molded  the  character  of  the  soldiery  who  com 
posed  that  army  and  the  facts  that  precipitated  the  contest  in 
which  they  fought  can  never  exist  again. 

The  people  of  this  Southland  give  Joseph  E.  Johnston  a 
place  in  their  hearts  and  affections  alongside  those  of  Sidney 
Johnston,  Lee,  and  Jackson.  Memory's  sweetest  retrospect 
will  be  to  contemplate  the  character  of  each,  great  and  good, 
brave  and  honorable  in  their  lives,  and  glorious  in  their  death. 
Sleep  on,  great  soldiers!  Most  of  your  lieutenants,  with 
the  long  line  of  nameless  heroes,  have  preceded  you  in  cross 
ing  the  river.  Your  names  and  fame  will  be  secure  in  the 
keeping  of  grateful  and  admiring  countrymen. 

In  summing  up  the  public  services  of  General  Johnston, 
we  conclude  that  as  a  civilian  he  had  attained  an  honorable 
citizenship.  He  was  called  to  represent  Virginia  in  Congress, 
and  was  given  high  position  in  State  and  national  affairs.  He 
has  discharged  his  trust  ably,  faithfully,  and  with  an  eye 
single  to  the  public  weal  and  the  reestablishment  of  the  fra 
ternity  of  the  American  people.  That  he  was  wounded  seven 
times  in  battle  attests  his  courage  as  a  soldier.  "Beware  of 
Johnston's  retreats"  relieves  him  of  its  usual  disaster.  Ag 
gressive  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  he  was  forced  to  accept 
the  Fabian  tactics,  and  we  learned  too  late  that  if  the  Con 
federacy  could  have  succeeded  it  must  have  been  through 
this  policy.  His  magnanimous  patriotism  cannot  be  over 
estimated  when  we  see  him  again  accepting,  in  North  Carolina, 
the  command  of  the  broken  and  shattered  fragments  of  his 
once  well-appointed  army.  Therefore  be  it 

Resolved  by  this  vast  assemblage  of  comrades  and  sympa 
thising  friends:  i.  That  we  recognize  in  the  life  and  character 
of  General  Johnston  the  noblest  and  highest  type  of  the  true 
Confederate  soldier  and  American  citizen,  true  to  every  pro 
fession  and  trust  confided  to  his  care.  We  commend  his  char 
acter  as  worthy  of  emulation,  view  his  death  as  a  national 
12 


178       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

calamity,  and  extend  to  the  members  of  his  bereaved  family 

our  condolence  sincere  and  heartfelt. 

2.  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  sent  to  his  nearest 

kinsman.  GEORGE  B.  GUILD,  Chairman; 

W.  H.  JACKSON,  J.  H.  HAYES, 
R.  LIN  CAVE,  J.  A.  RIDLEY, 
M.  B.  PILCHER,  J.  H.  NEAL. 

The  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment  served 
in  Wheeler's  corps  after  it  was  first  organized  in 
1862  till  the  surrender.  Maj.  Gen.  Joe  Wheeler  was 
a  graduate  of  West  Point  Academy,  and  was  as 
signed  to  the  artillery,  which  is  taken  as  an  honor 
preferment  at  the  Academy.  He  was  among  the  first 
to  resign  from  the  United  States  army  and  tender  his 
services  to  the  Confederate  government.  He  recruit 
ed  an  infantry  regiment  in  Alabama  and  saw  his  first 
service  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  Immediately  after 
wards  he  was  made  chief  of  the  cavalry,  with  rank 
of  major  general,  and  assigned  to  the  Army  of  Ten 
nessee.  He  was  brave,  energetic,  and  indefatigable 
in  his  efforts  to  obtain  correct  information  of  the 
enemy,  their  movements,  their  forces,  and  the  topog 
raphy  of  the  surrounding  country,  for  reliable  in 
formation  concerning  these  essentials  was  necessary. 
I  have  known  him  time  and  again  to  take  a  reliable 
squad  and  go  in  person  on  the  most  daring  and 
hazardous  excursions  to  obtain  needed  information. 

Lieut.  Gen.  A.  P.  Stewart  said  to  the  writer  since 
the  war  that  General  Wheeler  was  what  a  cavalry 
officer  ought  to  be,  the  eyes  and  ears  of  the  army; 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       179 

that  he  excelled  all  cavalry  officers  we  had  in  this 
regard;  that  he  was  obedient  to  orders,  vigilant, 
prompt  to  act ;  and  that  the  Army  of  Tennessee  rest 
ed  in  perfect  security  when  Wheeler  was  on  the 
front.  He  fought  many  hard-contested  battles  dur 
ing  his  four  years  of  service,  killing,  wounding,  and 
capturing  thousands  of  the  enemy.  He  conducted 
many  of  the  longest  and  most  successful  raids 
against  the  enemy,  notably  the  raid  he  made  into 
Middle  Tennessee  after  the  battle  of  Chickamauga, 
when  he  burned  one  thousand  of  the  enemy's  wagons 
loaded  with  the  richest  stores,  besides  wounding  and 
capturing  more  of  the  enemy  than  his  own  command 
numbered. 

General  Wheeler  was  a  member  of  Congress  from 
the  State  of  Alabama  when  he  was  appointed  brig 
adier  general  in  the  United  States  army  and  fought 
in  the  Spanish-American  war.  He  fought  the  larg 
est  and  most  noted  battle  of  the  land  forces  on  San 
Juan  Hill,  at  Santiago,  Cuba,  in  which  he  contributed 
more  to  its  success  than  any  other  general,  its  result 
being  the  defeat  and  capitulation  of  the  Spanish 
forces.  Among  the  many  notable  cavalry  generals 
I  would  enroll  the  name  of  General  Wheeler  next 
to  that  of  Tennessee's  great  general,  Bedford  For 
rest,  and  superior  to  him  in  many  essentials  as  a 
great  cavalryman.  General  Wheeler  died  in  Wash 
ington  soon  after  the  Spanish-American  War,  where 
he  had  been  serving  the  State  of  Alabama  as  a  con- 


i So       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

spicuous  Congressman  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years, 
and  was  buried  in  the  National  Cemetery  at  Arling 
ton. 

Col.  Baxter  Smith,  Lieut.  Col.  Paul  F.  Anderson, 
and  Maj.  W.  Scott  Bledsoe  were  respectively  the 
field  officers  of  the  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regi 
ment.  Young,  active,  patriotic,  brave  in  battle,  each 
of  them  was  called  at  times  to  the  command  and  had 
the  full  confidence  and  support  of  the  soldiers. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  Colonel  Smith 
recruited  a  company  at  his  old  home,  Gallatin,  Sum- 
ner  County,  Tenn.,  and  was  elected  captain  of  the 
company,  which,  upon  organization,  became  a  part 
of  a  battalion  of  cavalry  of  which  James  D.  Bennett 
became  lieutenant  colonel  and  Baxter  Smith  major. 
Their  first  service  was  with  Gen.  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston  at  Bowling  Green,  Ky.  When  Johnston 
evacuated  the  place,  the  battalion  retreated  with  him 
to  Shiloh  and  fought  in  that  hotly  contested  battle. 
After  the  battle  of  Shiloh  Major  Smith  was  ordered 
to  Knoxville ;  and  when  Gen.  (then  Col.)  N.  B. 
Forrest  organized  a  command  for  an  advance  into 
Middle  Tennessee,  Major  Smith  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  a  battalion  of  four  or  five  companies 
that  afterwards  became  a  part  of  his  regiment. 
They  participated  under  General  Forrest  in  that 
most  brilliant  battle  at  Murfreesboro,  July  13,  1863, 
resulting  in  the  capture  of  a  large  force  of  the  ene 
my's  infantry  and  artillery.  A  force  much  larger 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       181 

than  that  of  General  Forrest  occupied  Murfreesboro, 
and  were  all  captured.  On  Forrest's  return  to  Mc- 
Minnville  with  his  captures,  he  encountered  a  force 
of  the  enemy  occupying  a  blockhouse  at  Morrison 
Station,  on  the  railroad.  Major  Smith  was  ordered 
to  dismount  his  companies  or  a  part  of  them  and 
take  the  blockhouse.  They  dismounted,  and,  charg 
ing  up  to  the  fort,  twelve  of  them  were  killed  and  a 
large  number  of  them  wounded  in  a  few  minutes' 
time.  They  were  repulsed,  and  that  ended  the  af 
fair.  This  affair  taught  the  cavalry  a  lesson  and  aft 
erwards  they  carried  a  section  of  light  artillery  with 
them  on  their  raids.  Major  Smith's  battalion  ac 
companied  General  Bragg  on  his  raid  into  Kentucky, 
participating  in  the  battle  of  Perryville,  and  was  at 
the  capture  and  surrender  of  four  thousand  Federals 
at  Munfordville.  On  Bragg's  return  to  Tennessee, 
this  battalion,  with  other  companies,  was  organ 
ized  into  the  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry,  of  which 
the  gentlemen  mentioned  became  the  field  officers^ 
On  reaching  home  immediately  after  the  surren 
der,  Colonel  Smith  moved  to  the  city  of  Nashville 
to  practice  law,  where  he  remained  a  well-known 
and  successful  lawyer,  except  for  serving  one  term 
in  the  State  Senate,  till  two  or  more  years  ago, 
when  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the 
Chickamauga  Park  Commission,  which  necessitated 
his  removal  to  Chattanooga,  where  he  now  resides. 
He  is  the  only  surviving  field  officer  of  the  Regiment. 


1 82       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Lieut.  Col.  Paul  F.  Anderson  was  a  native  of  Wil 
son  County,  Tenn.,  but  a  few  years  before  the  War 
between  the  States  he  was  residing  in  the  State  of 
Texas.  He  attached  himself  to  the  Eighth  Texas 
Cavalry  Regiment,  which  was  organized  among  the 
first  Confederate  troops,  and  went  with  that  regi 
ment  to  Gen.  Albert  S.  Johnston's  army,  then  at 
Bowling  Green,  Ky.  He  was  with  Colonel  Terry, 
commanding  the  Eighth  Texas,  at  Woodsonville, 
above  Bowling  Green,  when  that  most  gallant  officer 
was  killed.  John  A.  Wharton,  who  succeeded  Terry 
in  command  of  the  regiment,  gave  Anderson  author 
ity  to  go  to  his  old  home  at  Lebanon,  Tenn.,  and  re 
cruit  a  company,  which  he  did,  enlisting  the  celebrat 
ed  "Cedar  Snags,"  composed  of  young  men  of  the 
best  families  from  the  counties  of  Wilson,  Davidson, 
and  Sumner,  afterwards  becoming  Company  K  of 
the  Regiment.  At  the  date  of  the  organization  of  the 
Regiment  Col.  John  A.  Wharton  had  become  a  major 
general  and  took  Company  K  as  his  escort.  Ander 
son  becoming  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  Regiment, 
James  H.  Britton  succeeded  him  as  captain  of  Com 
pany  K,  both  holding  their  ranks  till  the  surrender, 
in  1865.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Anderson  was  a  brave 
and  most  gallant  officer.  To  hear  him  talk  one 
would  conclude  that  he  was  too  rash ;  but,  really,  he 
was  one  of  the  most  discreet  officers  that  were  to  be 
found.  He  knew  better  when  to  make  or  decline  a 
fight  than  any  officer  of  my  acquaintance.  His 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       183 

quaint  sayings  became  proverbial  in  the  army,  and 
the  infantry  especially  would  cry  out  as  he  passed : 
"Here  comes  Paul."  It  seemed  that  he  knew  every 
body  and  everybody  knew  him.  I  have  heard  Major 
General  Hume,  who  was  commanding  the  division, 
say  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Anderson  as  he  passed  his 
line  of  battle :  "Well,  Colonel  Paul,  you  know  better 
than  I  can  tell  you  what  to  do  if  the  enemy  ap 
proaches  your  line."  Anderson  was  wounded  slight 
ly  at  Fort  Donelson  in  February,  1863,  and  in  the 
Kilpatrick  fight  at  Fayetteville.  A  few  clays  or  a 
week  before  the  surrender  he  was  absent  for  some 
cause,  and  I  do  not  think  he  was  with  the  Regiment 
at  the  time  of  the  surrender.  I  know  that  Colonel 
Smith  was  in  command  of  the  brigade  and  Major 
Bledsoe  was  in  command  of  the  Regiment.  Any 
how,  he  had  fought  the  fight  to  a  finish  and  had  won 
all  the  honors  a  parole  could  confer  upon  him.  Aft 
er  the  surrender  he  settled  in  Helena,  Ark.  He  died 
there  of  yellow  fever  some  years  ago,  greatly  re 
spected  by  the  citizens,  who  buried  him  near  the  mon 
ument  erected  to  Gen.  Pat  Cleburne. 

Maj.  Scott  Bledsoe  was  a  practicing  lawyer  in 
Fentress  County,  Tenn.,  when  the  war  broke  out. 
He  was  a  descendant  of  the  famed  Bledsoe  family 
that  settled  in  Sumner  County.  He  recruited  and 
was  elected  captain  of  a  company  that  afterwards  be 
came  Company  I  in  the  Regiment.  He,  with  his  com 
pany,  participated  in  the  battle  of  Fishing  Creek 


184       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

under  the  lamented  Gen.  Felix  K.  Zollicoffer,  who 
fell  upon  that  unfortunate  field.  The  poet  has  most 
beautifully  said  of  General  Zollicoffer: 

"First  in  fight  and  first  in  the  arms 

Of  the  white-winged  angel  of  glory, 
With  the  heart  of  the  South  at  the  feet  of  God, 
And  his  wounds  to  tell  the  story." 

Major  Bledsoe,  with  his  company,  was  in  General 
Bragg' s  Kentucky  campaign  in  1862,  returning  with 
General  Bragg  to  Tennessee.  In  October,  1862, 
when  the  Regiment  was  organized  at  Nolensville, 
Tenn.,  he  was  appointed  major,  and  his  company 
became  Company  I  (as  before  stated)  of  the  Fourth 
Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.  He  served  continu 
ally  with  the  Regiment  until  the  surrender,  and  was 
in  all  of  its  battles  and  campaigns.  His  brother, 
Robert  Bledsoe,  afterwards  killed  in  Wheeler's  raid 
into  Middle  Tennessee,  succeeded  him  as  captain  of 
the  company.  Major  Bledsoe  was  a  true  and  brave 
soldier  and  a  most  affable  and  intelligent  gentleman. 
After  the  surrender  he  and  many  of  his  old  company 
moved  to  other  parts  of  the  country.  In  fact,  a  local 
warfare  existed  in  their  section  between  the  clans  of 
Champ  Ferguson  on  the  Confederate  side  and  those 
of  "Tinker  Dave"  Beatty  on  the  part  of  the  Union 
men,  and  many  revolting  killings  occurred.  This 
lasted  several  years  after  peace  was  declared.  Maj. 
Scott  Bledsoe  died  at  Cleburne,  Tex.,  some  years 
ago,  one  of  its  most  prominent  and  wealthy  citizens. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
AN  ADDRESS  AND  A  SPEECH. 

THE  Woodbury  (Term.)  Press  of  September  19, 
1878,  published  the  following  upon  the  occasion  of 
the  first  reunion  of  the  Regiment  after  the  war: 

ADDRESS  OF  ADJUTANT  GEORGE  B.  GUILD. 

I  rejoice  in  my  heart  to  meet  so  many  of  you.  More  than 
thirteen  years  have  passed  away  since,  in  the  Old  North  State, 
by  order  of  superior  officers,  you  laid  aside  the  equipments  of 
war  and  furled  forever  the  flag  you  have  loved  and  fol 
lowed — often  in  victory,  sometimes  in  disaster,  but  always  in 
honor  and  with  a  soldier's  devotion  to  duty.  It  is  meet  and 
proper,  fellow  soldiers,  that  our  reunion  should  be  inaugurated 
at  Woodbury.  For  here,  under  these  towering  hills  and 
along  the  meanderings  of  the  beautiful  little  river  that  laves 
your  green  and  fertile  valleys,  were  enacted  many  of  the  stir 
ring  scenes  through  which  the  Regiment  passed.  Here  too  it 
was  our  fortune  to  have  encamped  on  outpost  duty  for  some 
time.  Who  is  it  that  does  not  remember  with  the  fondest 
recollection  the  generous  liberality  of  this  hospitable  people? 
Your  male  population  were  mostly  in  the  army.  The  decrepit 
old  men  and  women  were  here — God  bless  them ! — and  nobly 
did  they  extend  a  helping  hand  in  every  possible  manner. 
This  is  the  first  opportunity  we  have  had  to  return  to  you  the 
thanks  of  our  grateful  hearts ;  and  when  I  do  so,  I  know  that 
I  utter  the  sentiment  of  every  member  of  the  Regiment.  Amid 
all  of  the  vicissitudes  through  which  we  afterwards  passed, 
and  the  dreary  years  that  have  gone  by  since  then  we  have 
remembered  with  gratitude,  and  with  a  longing  for  your  pros 
perity  and  happiness,  the  good  and  noble  women  of  this  vicin 
ity.  In  the  name  of  the  Regiment,  I  again  extend  our  heart- 


1 86       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

felt  thanks.  It  is  meet  and  proper  from  another  view  that  our 
inaugural  meeting  should  be  at  Woodbury;  for  in  this  vicinity 
two  of  the  Regiment's  companies  were  recruited — Company 
E,  Capt.  H.  A.  Wyly,  and  Company  G,  Capt.  J.  W.  Nichol. 
And  while  it  would  be  improper  to  make  distinctions  when  all 
have  acted  so  well  their  part,  two  better  companies  never 
answered  the  bugle  call  or  followed  honor's  beckoning.  A 
hundred  battle  fields  have  been  stained  with  your  blood,  and 
nowhere  at  any  time  has  the  slightest  dishonor  tarnished  your 
fame  as  soldiers. 

I  see  around  me  some  of  the  surviving  veterans  of  these  two 
noble  companies,  battle-scarred,  limbless,  with  the  honors  of 
war  thick  upon  their  persons;  and  it  is  well  and  proper  that 
we  should  meet  here  amid  friends  and  relatives  of  such  men, 
to  clasp  again  the  friendly  hand  and  open  to  each  other  the 
warm  hearts  of  comrades  while  we  talk  of  battles  lost  and 
won  and  renew  that  attachment  for  each  other  that  germi 
nated  and  ripened  amid  scenes  that  unmistakably  told  what 
stuff  men  are  made  of.  Let  this  be  an  inauguration  of  a 
meeting  together  which  shall  extend  through  long  years  to 
come,  having  for  its  object  the  perpetuation  of  the  truth  of 
history,  to  preserve  unsullied  the  reputation  of  the  living,  and 
to  embalm  forever  the  memory  of  those  gallant  spirits  who 
offered  their  lives  a  free  sacrifice  to  a  cause  which  was  as 
holy  as  that  which  nerved  the  arms  of  our  Revolutionary  sires. 
Let  our  children  learn  of  it,  so  that  they  may  teach  their  chil 
dren's  children  that  to  have  fought  and  lost  does  not  necessarily 
stigmatize  their  ancestors  as  traitors.  Might  is  not  always 
right,  and  "truth  crushed  to  earth  will  rise  again." 

But,  fellow  soldiers,  it  is  no  part  of  our  coming  together 
to  discuss  the  theory  of  the  War  between  the  States — its 
causes  or  whether  we  were  right  or  wrong.  "There's  a  Divin 
ity  that  shapes  our  ends,  rough-hew  them  how  we  will."  It  is 
a  stern  fact  that  war  did  come  and  the  most  stupendous  con 
flict  of  arms  ensued  of  which  modern  history  gives  any  ac 
count.  Suffice  it  to  say  at  this  time  that  a  strong  sectional 
feeling  had  been  engendered  between  the  sections  of  the 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       187 

country;  that  it  had  originated  many  years  before  the  war; 
and  that  it  had  grown  in  intensity  year  after  year  until  1861, 
when  the  war  cloud  became  so  heavily  charged  with  angry 
passion  that  it  burst  in  all  its  fury  and  enveloped  the  country 
in  a  conflict  which,  besides  a  million  lives,  cost  an  inestimable 
amount  of  property  and  treasure.  Some  of  our  sister  States 
had  been  thoroughly  instructed  in  the  doctrine  of  State  sov 
ereignty.  They  had  wrongs,  grievous  wrongs,  to  complain  of 
at  the  hands  of  the  North,  which  the  North  refused  to  remedy. 
They  asked  peaceably  to  retire  from  the  Union  of  States.  The 
government  proposed  to  coerce  them  into  submission  and 
made  her  levies  for  armies  upon  sister  Southern  States  for  the 
purpose  of  whipping  them  into  the  Union.  Not  till  this  was 
done  by  the  general  government  did  Tennessee  appear  upon 
the  scene.  A  few  months  before  at  the  ballot  box  she  had, 
by  a  majority  of  over  sixty  thousand,  decided  to  cling  to  the 
Union  of  our  fathers;  but  when  she  saw  that  it  was  to  be  a 
war  of  subjugation,  she  scorned  to  be  neutral  and  elected  to  go 
with  her  people  and  kindred  and  to  share  their  fate,  be  it  for 
weal  or  for  woe.  Tennessee  answered  her  sister  States  as 
Ruth  did  Naomi :  "Whither  thou  goest,  I  will  go ;  .  .  . 
thy  people  shall  be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my  God :  where 
thou  diest,  will  I  die,  and  there  will  I  be  buried." 

The  drums  beat,  flags  were  unfurled  to  the  breeze,  sweet 
hearts  waved  their  handkerchiefs,  and  the  boys  went  in.  Ours 
was  an  unequal  contest.  It  was  a  battle  of  the  weak  against 
the  strong  and  powerful.  The  future  historian,  when  he  comes 
to  tell  the  truth  of  history,  will  record  it  as  follows :  In  point 
of  numbers  the  Northern  States  were  more  than  four  times 
that  of  the  Southern  States.  When  we  take  into  the  estimate 
that  some  of  these  so-called  Southern  States  contributed  more 
largely  to  the  Northern  army  than  they  did  to  ours,  the  dis 
proportion  in  numbers  can  hardly  be  estimated.  Not  only 
this,  but  the  North,  before  the  contest  was  over,  called  to 
their  assistance  hundreds  of  thousands  of  foreigners  and  the 
negro  slaves  of  the  South.  We  withdrew  from  the  Union, 
which  left  the  government,  with  all  its  immense  machinery,  in 


1 88       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

their  hands.  They  needed  no  recognition  from  foreign  pow 
ers;  we  by  our  own  strong  arms  had  to  win  it.  The  accumu 
lated  national  wealth  of  nearly  a  century  was  theirs — a  power 
ful  navy,  the  regular  army,  arms  and  ordnance  of  every  de 
scription,  with  the  machinery  and  workshops  to  manufacture 
more. 

The  South  was  an  agricultural  people.  They  had  contented 
themselves  with  the  production  of  the  raw  material,  while  they 
left  it  to  the  North  to  manufacture  every  article  of  use,  from 
the  smallest  to  the  most  important.  They  had  to  establish 
as  best  they  could  shops  for  the  manufacture  of  every  accou- 
terment  of  the  soldier  and  of  every  munition  of  war.  There 
were  not  in  the  whole  South  a  percussion  cap  manufactory  or 
powder  mill  that  could  fill  the  cartridge  boxes  of  a  regiment 
of  soldiers.  There  was  no  accumulation  of  supplies  anywhere. 
There  was  not  a  single  war  vessel  and  but  a  few  merchantmen 
in  her  harbors,  and  a  drillmaster  was  as  big  a  show  as  an 
elephant.  I  speak  of  this  more  particularly  to  refute  the 
assertion  that  the  South  had  for  years  been  preparing  for 
war.  Not  one  word  of  it  is  true.  Mr.  Lincoln's  proclamation 
was  the  electric  spark  that  set  fire  to  the  house,  and  all  the 
water  in  Christendom  could  not  have  quenched  it.  She  did 
not  stop  to  count  the  cost  or  to  wait  to  get  ready. 

The  Federal  government  proposed  to  subdue  the  rebellion 
in  sixty  days,  and  for  this  purpose  sent  forward  toward  Rich 
mond  the  most  magnificent  army  that  had  been  seen  on  the 
continent,  composed  mainly  of  the  regulars  of  the  old  army 
and  officered  by  men  of  known  ability  and  experience.  It  has 
been  said  that  grand  preparations  had  been  made  for  a  jollifi 
cation  over  their  anticipated  victory,  and  that  a  large  number 
of  the  citizens  of  Washington  had  accompanied  the  army  "to 
see  the  fun."  They  were  met  at  Manassas  by  a  little  over  one- 
half  their  number  of  citizen-soldiers.  A  great  battle  was 
fought,  which  terminated  in  a  most  disastrous  defeat  and 
rout.  Not  until  then  did  the  Federal  government  comprehend 
the  magnitude  of  their  undertaking.  New  levies  were  made 
and  the  greatest  expenditures  entered  upon.  The  South,  too, 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       189 

marshaled  her  resources.  It  was  a  war  between  giants,  and 
the  full  strength  and  capacity  of  both  were  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  result. 

Great  battles  were  fought  from  the  Potomac  to  the  Western 
borders,  with  varied  results,  for  four  years.  I  feel  justified  in 
saying  that  the  South  fairly  won  her  proportion  of  these ;  but 
the  difficulty  with  us  was  that  we  so  expended  our  strength 
in  battle  that  we  were  unable  to  follow  up  our  advantage — 
that  we  had  no  reserve  to  call  upon  from  the  rear.  This  fact 
caused  delay  and  enabled  the  enemy  to  draw  upon  their  inex 
haustible  resources  and  repair  the  damage.  In  other  words, 
we  did  not  have  the  troops  to  follow  up  the  success  we  had 
fairly  won  or  to  secure  the  prize  within  our  grasp;  while  the 
enemy  could  in  forty-eight  hours  (or  in  a  very  short  time) 
hurry  fresh  men  to  their  assistance,  drawing  not  only  from 
their  own  supplies,  but  from  the  mercenary  population  of  for 
eign  countries,  with  the  slave  population  of  the  South  thrown 
in  for  good  measure.  It  could  then  be  with  the  South  but  a 
question  as  to  how  long  she  could  stand  this  letting  out  of  her 
lifeblood.  She  stood  alone  and  could  look  to  no  assistance 
from  without.  The  principles  of  attrition  were  applied ;  and 
after  more  than  four  years  of  bloody  war  the  South  succumbed, 
but  not  to  superior  courage  and  soldierly  bearing  upon  the  field 
of  battle.  Her  armies  had  been  shattered  and  broken,  and 
there  were  none  to  stand  in  their  places.  Numbers  had  told 
at  last,  and  the  fiery  wave  of  battle  had  spent  its  force  upon 
the  beach. 

We  would  not  speak  disparagingly  of  the  soldier  who 
fought  against  us,  for  to  do  so  would  be  casting  a  shadow 
upon  our  own  record.  He  fought  well  and  bravely,  and  none 
other  could  have  accomplished  what  he  did.  But  the  North 
ern  soldier  fought  for  conquest  and  subjugation;  the  Southern 
soldier  fought  for  his  home  and  his  family.  The  one  was  an 
army  of  invasion,  and  the  other  was  an  army  of  defense.  The 
Southern  soldier  fought  more  valiantly  than  the  Northern 
soldier  from  the  simple  fact  that  he  had  more  to  fight  for. 
But  it  is  all  over  now,  and  it  becomes  us  with  charity  to 


190       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

bury  all  the  sad  memories  from  our  sight  and  to  forget  as 
well  as  we  can  all  the  heart  burnings  it  engendered.  "The 
past  comes  not  back  again.  The  present  is  ours;  let  us  im 
prove  it  and  go  forward  to  meet  the  shadowy  future  with 
manly  hearts  and  without  fear."  This  beautiful  land  is  ours 
by  birthright.  Our  fathers  bequeathed  it  to  us.  We  have  an 
inalienable  right  to  it,  and  in  the  language  of  Georgia's  great 
est  orator:  "We  are  here  in  our  father's  house.  We  are  at 
home,  thank  God!  We  come  charging  on  the  Union  no 
wrong  to  us.  The  Union  never  wronged  the  South.  We 
charge  all  our  wrongs  to  the  higher  law  of  fanaticism,  which 
never  kept  a  pledge  or  obeyed  a  law.  We  sought  to  leave  the 
association  of  those  who  could  not  keep  fidelity  to  the  cove 
nant.  So  far  from  having  lost  our  fidelity  to  the  Constitution, 
the  South  when  she  sought  to  go  by  herself  hugged  the  Con 
stitution  to  her  bosom  and  carried  it  with  her." 

The  privations  you  underwent  while  a  soldier,  the  absolute 
sufferings  at  times  for  every  necessity  of  life,  the  exposure 
to  a  summer's  sun  and  heat  and  to  the  frost  and  snow  of  win 
ter  during  your  long  and  tiresome  marches,  nor  have  I  men 
tioned  the  long,  dark  night  of  many  of  you  in  Northern 
prisons — the  history  of  every  civilized  war  pales  into  insig 
nificance  before  it.  The  magnitude  of  your  battles  and  the 
privations  of  your  soldier  life  are  without  a  parallel.  Upon 
your  battle  flag  is  engraven  "Murfreesboro,  Chickamauga,  Se- 
quatchie  Valley,  Tunnel  Hill,  Dalton,  Resaca,  New  Hope 
Church,  Marietta,  Atlanta,  Newnan,  Saltville,  Griswoldville, 
Buck  Head  Church,  Fayetteville,  Bentonville,"  and  to  the  list 
might  be  added  a  hundred  other  battles  and  skirmishes  in 
which  blood  was  spilled. 

But  the  saddest  memory  of  it  all  is  when  we  remember  the 
comrades  who  went  with  us  but  came  not  back.  They  saw 
"the  blood-red  sunset,  and  we  are  permitted  to  see  the  after 
glow." 

"On  Fame's  eternal  camping  ground 
Their  silent  tents  are  spread." 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       191 

They  fell  devoted  but  undying  upon  the  battle  fields  of  the 
far-off  South,  where  their  comrades  placed  them  in  their 
blankets  in  their  shallow  graves,  which  the  rains  of  heaven 
or  the  plowshare  have  leveled  with  the  earth.  They  are  un 
known  but  not  forgotten.  Their  names  are  enrolled  upon  the 
hearts  of  a  grateful  and  admiring  people  in  letters  of  gold, 
and  will  not  be  forgotten. 

I  have  been  asked  to  insert  in  this  book  the  dedi 
catory  speech  I  had  the  honor  of  making  upon  the 
occasion  of  the  unveiling  of  the  Confederate  monu 
ment  at  Mt.  Olivet  Cemetery  in  1891.  Rev.  Dr. 
J.  H.  McNeilly,  who  was  a  true  Confederate  sol 
dier,  in  a  short  time  thereafter  compiled  and  pub 
lished  a  very  neat  pamphlet  of  the  entire  proceed 
ings.  Dr.  McNeilly,  though  advanced  in  years  and 
very  feeble,  still  retains  his  love  and  admiration  for 
his  comrades,  and  is  ever  ready  to  lend  his  aid  in  the 
perpetuation  of  Confederate  history.  I  will  be  par 
doned  when  I  say  that  I  have  been  selfish  enough  to 
yield  to  this  urgent  request.  The  speech  follows : 

Comrades,  Ladies,  and  Gentlemen:  Tennesseeans  are  justly 
proud  of  their  history.  The  daring  exploits  of  their  ancestry, 
who  came  across  the  mountains  from  Virginia  and  the  Caro- 
linas,  read  like  a  romance.  Their  early  struggles  with  the 
savage  and  warlike  foe  and  the  important  services  they  ren 
dered  the  colonies  in  establishing  American  independence  have 
stamped  them  as  a  race  of  men  unexcelled  in  fortitude  and 
courage.  Subsequent  facts  justify  the  assertion  that  they 
imparted  to  their  posterity  all  their  high  patriotic  character 
istics;  for  in  the  various  Indian  wars  under  Jackson,  in  the 
War  of  1812  with  Great  Britain,  in  the  Seminole  War,  and  in 
the  war  with  Mexico  Tennessee  played  a  most  important 


192       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

part.  We  challenge  the  pages  of  history  to  show  where  the 
sons  of  sister  States  have  done  more — yea,  as  much — to  main 
tain  the  honor,  to  broaden  the  public  domain,  and  to  establish 
the  national  power  and  greatness  of  the  United  States.  Their 
valor  won  for  them  the  proud  name  of  "Volunteer  State"; 
hence  when  our  War  between  the  States  began,  it  was  impos 
sible  for  Tennessee  to  remain  inactive.  Being  forced  to  a 
choice,  they  went  with  their  kindred  in  blood  and  interest. 

It  is  not  within  my  province  to  speak  at  length  of  the  sol 
diers — old  and  young,  rich  and  poor — that  crowded  into  the 
ranks  of  the  Confederate  armies.  Tennessee  furnished  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  regiments — about  one  hundred  thousand 
soldiers,  nearly  one-sixth  of  the  entire  Confederate  force. 
Many  counties  had  more  soldiers  in  the  army  than  their  voting 
population.  For  four  years  upon  hundreds  of  battle  fields  they 
helped  maintain  the  unequal  contest.  With  resources  exhaust 
ed  and  their  armies  depleted  to  skeletons,  they  lost  all  save 
honor.  Three  times  during  the  four  years'  struggle  were  Ten- 
nesseeans  driven  from  their  homes  and  State;  but  they  never 
thought  once  of  deserting  the  flag  or  giving  up  the  contest, 
though  their  homes  were  in  possession  of  the  enemy  and  their 
fields  furnished  them  subsistence. 

In  1862  they  followed  the  fortunes  of  that  great  soldier 
Albert  Sidney  Johnston  from  Bowling  Green  to  Shiloh,  the 
field  of  his  triumph  and  fall.  They  retreated  from  Perryville 
to  Murfreesboro  and  Chickamauga  under  General  Bragg. 
They  fought  under  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston  from  Dalton 
to  Atlanta,  marking  the  route  with  the  blood  and  graves  of 
the  enemy.  At  the  command  of  Hood,  they  marched  back  to 
bloody  Franklin  and  the  vicinity  of  Nashville.  From  the 
Brentwood  hills,  with  longing  eyes  and  yearning  hearts,  they 
beheld  the  spires  and  domes  of  the  beautiful  capital  of  their 
beloved  State.  When  overwhelmed  with  the  torrent  which 
Thomas  turned  upon  them,  with  empty  haversacks  and  naked, 
bleeding  feet  in  midwinter,  they  followed  their  drooping 
standard  beyond  the  Tennessee.  When  in  the  early  spring  of 
1865  the  broken  and  shattered  fragments  of  the  Army  of 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       193 

Tennessee  gathered  once  more  under  the  standard  of  Gen. 
Joseph  E.  Johnston  in  North  Carolina,  a  large  proportion  of 
Tennesseeans  answered  to  roll  call,  participated  in  the  unequal 
battle  at  Bentonville,  and  surrendered  at  Greensboro. 

Nor  would  we  forget  to  mention  in  this  connection  the 
brave  sons  of  Tennessee  who  fought  in  the  Army  of  Virginia, 
who  fought  at  Manassas  under  Stonewall  Jackson,  at  Chan- 
cellorsville,  at  Gettysburg,  and  on  other  fields,  and  who,  when 
overwhelmed  in  numbers,  surrendered  with  Lee  at  Appomat- 
tox.  The  glory  they  so  nobly  won  is  a  part  of  the  immortal 
heritage  of  Tennesseeans. 

A  generation  of  men  has  come  upon  the  stage  of  life 
since  1861,  and  the  labor  of  many  hands,  multiplied  by  the 
passing  years,  has  wiped  away  every  trace  of  the  awful  con 
flict,  but  the  story  of  the  Confederate  soldier  still  lives.  It 
has  formed  an  enduring  lodgment  in  every  home,  and  as  the 
years  recede  its  thrilling  traditions  will  pass  from  lip  to  lip. 

In  May,  1865,  the  remnant  of  the  Confederate  army  returned 
to  their  desolated  homes.  Since  then  there  has  been  a  desire 
on  the  part  of  this  people  not  only  to  show  to  future  genera 
tions  their  approval  of  the  manner  in  which  they  performed 
their  duty,  but  also  to  give  some  enduring  testimonial  of  their 
appreciation  of  the  honor  and  glory  they  won.  This  monu 
ment  is  the  fulfillment  of  that  cherished  purpose;  and  now 
that  it  is  finished,  we  trust  that  it  will  meet  your  approbation. 
At  any  rate,  we  ask  you  to  accept  it  in  the  spirit  that  has 
created  it.  As  its  front  inscription  indicates,  we  dedicate  it 
"to  the  valor,  devotion,  and  sacrifice  unto  death  of  the  Con 
federate  soldiers  of  Tennessee."  This  generation  need  not  be 
told  what  this  means,  for  they  too  have  lived  under  the  dark 
shadows  of  the  four  years  of  blood  and  carnage.  The  tramp, 
tramp,  tramp  of  the  marching  hosts  echoes  in  their  hearts 
to-day.  Battle  succeeds  battle  more  deadly  than  before. 
Every  messenger  from  the  front  tells  of  the  wreck  of  a  living 
hope.  Every  home  is  a  house  of  mourning — a  whole  people 
baptized  in  martial  glory,  with  one  hope  and  one  destiny. 

This  shaft  is  not  intended  to  commemorate  the  fame  of 


194       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

our  great  generals — the  account  of  the  battle  has  told  of  them 
— but  the  private  soldier,  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Confederate 
armies,  the  citizen  soldiery,  who  without  hope  of  reward  suf 
fered  privations,  fought  against  greater  numbers,  and  sacrificed 
their  lives  in  the  discharge  of  duty.  From  Gettysburg  to  the 
distant  fields  of  the  far  South — wherever  the  army  fought — 
they  sleep  in  their  blankets  in  unmarked  and  forgotten  graves. 
It  is  their  unwritten  record  we  would  lift  aloft  and  inscribe 
their  names  among  the  stars.  Driven  from  their  homes, 
weary  from  forced  marches,  weak  from  hunger,  in  tattered 
garments,  they  marched  to  their  death  amid  bursting  shell  and 
rattling,  crashing  musketry.  Such  we  would  remember  to-day. 
And  the  lone  sentinel  yonder,  as  he  looks  away  from  the 
granite  base,  "instances  each  soldier's  grave  as  a  shrine." 
In  the  years  to  come  let  the  stranger  who  is  attracted  to  this 
spot,  as  he  gazes  up  at  that  typical  form,  partake  of  the  in 
spiration  that  we  would  have  to  linger  here. 

"Pious  marble !    Let  thy  readers  know 
What  they  and  what  their  children  owe 
To  the  brave  men  whose  sacred  dust 
We  here  commit  unto  thy  trust. 
Protect  their  memory,  preserve  their  story ; 
Remain  a  lasting  monument  to  their  glory." 


CHAPTER  XV. 
A  FEW  FACTS  FROM  HISTORY. 

The  Southern  States  furnished  the  Federal  army 
with  the  following : 

White  troops  276,439 

Negroes    178,975 

Foreigners    444,586 


Total    800,000 

Foreigners  in  the  Federal  army  were  as  follows : 

Germans   176,800 

Irish    144,200 

British-Americans    53, SOD 

English    45,500 

Other  foreigners   74,900 

Total    494,900 

The  Federal  army  in  its  report  for  May,  1865, 
had  present  for  duty  1,000,576,  while  it  had  present 
equipped  602,598.  The  Confederate  army  in  its 
report  for  April  9,  1865,  had  174,223  paroled  and 
98,802  in  Federal  prisons,  making  a  total  of  272,- 
025. 

As  the  armies  stood  at  time  of  surrender : 

Federal   soldiers    1,000,576 

Confederate  soldiers    272,025 

Total  enlistment  of  Federal  army 2,778,304 

Total  enlistment  of  Confederate  army..      600,000 


196       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

1.  The   State  of  New  York  with  448,850  and 
Pennsylvania  with  337,936  Union  soldiers  aggre 
gated  768,635  soldiers  and  outnumbered  the  entire 
Confederate  army. 

2.  Illinois  with  259,092,  Ohio  with  313,180,  and 
Indiana  with  196,363  soldiers  aggregated  768,635 
soldiers  and  outnumbered  the  Confederate  army. 

3.  New  England  with  363,162  and  the  316,424 
Union  soldiers  of  the  slave  States  aggregated  679,- 
586  soldiers  and  outnumbered  the  Confederate  army. 

4.  The  States  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  ex 
clusive  of  Missouri  and  the  other  Southern  States, 
enlisted  319,563,   Delaware,  New  Jersey,  and  the 
District  of  Columbia  105,632,  and  the  negro  troops 
enlisted  in  the  Southern  States  and  not  before  count 
ed  were  99,337 — an  aggregate  of  514,532  soldiers. 

These  facts,  taken  from  the  wrar  records,  show 
that  there  were  four  Union  armies  in  the  field,  each 
of  which  was  as  large  as  the  Confederate  army. 

The  following  list  of  killed  and  wounded  (ex 
clusive  of  prisoners)  in  the  nineteen  great  battles 
of  the  war  was  compiled  by  Lieut.  Col.  G.  F.  R. 
Henderson,  C.B.,  in  his  most  excellent  book  of  two 
volumes  styled  "Stonewall  Jackson  and  the  Ameri 
can  Civil  War."  I  am  glad  that  some  neutral  party 
has  so  truthfully  recorded  the  facts  as  they  are.  He 
came  to  the  United  States  after  the  war  in  order  to 
investigate  and  write  for  the  benefit  of  an  impartial 
public  a  true  history.  He  was  given  every  facility 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       197 


for  that  purpose  and  had  access  to  the  reports  of 
both  sides,  with  the  personal  interviews  of  both 
Federal  and  Confederate  officers  who  had  partici 
pated  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  the  war. 
After  much  labor  and  time  spent,  he  made  the  fol 
lowing  report,  touching  the  killed  and  wounded  of 
both  armies  in  the  battles  named,  which  report  re 
ceived  the  full  indorsement  of  Field  Marshal  the 
Right  Honorable  Viscount  Wolseley,  commander  in 
chief  of  the  Army  of  Great  Britain.  Taken,  then, 
as  such,  it  should  be  accepted  as  impartial  and  true. 

LIST  OF  KILLED  AND  WOUNDED  (NOT  INCLUDING  PRISONERS)  IN 
THE  GREAT  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR  BETWEEN  THE 
STATES,  1861  TO  1865. 


Name  of  Battle. 

Date. 

NUMBER  OF  TROOPS 
EXOAGFD. 

KlLLKD  AND  WOUNDED. 

4) 

« 

9 
16 

12 
14 
5 
11 
17 
17 
8 
27 
12 
24 
8 
24 
14 
16 
6 
6 

Percentage  of  Victor. 

Confederate. 

Federal. 

1 

"a 

8 

£ 

1 

-. 

Manassas*  
Perryville  
Shiloh 

1861  
1862  

1862."!!!! 

1862  
1862  
1862  
1862  
1862  
1862  
1863  
1863  
1863  .... 
Il863  ..  . 

18,000 
16,000 

40,000 
39,000 
54.000 
70.000 
21,000 
54.000 
41,000 
70,000 
71.000 
62,000 
70,000 
33.000 
33,000 
61.000 
50,000 
58,000 
39.000 

18,000 

27,000 
58.000 
51,000 
36,000 
80,000 
12.000 
73,000 
87,000 
120,000 
57,000 
130,000 
93,000 
60,000 
60,000 
118,000 
100.000 
110,000 
55,000 

1,969 
3,200 
9000 
6,134 
8,000 
5.500 
1,314 
9,000 
9,500 
4,224 
18,000 
10,000 
18,000 
3,000 
9,500 
11,000 
8,000 
1,700 
3,500 

1,584 
3,700 
12,000 
5,031 
5,000 
2,800 
2,380 
13,000 
12.410 
12,747 
17,100 
14,000 
17,000 
5.500 
9,000 
15,000 
17,000 
10,000 
3,000 

3,553 
6,900 
21,000 

13',000 
8,300 
3,694 
22,000 
21,910 
16,971 
35,100 
24,000 
37,000 
8,500 
18,500 
26,000 
25,000 
11,700 
6.500 

10 

9 
14 
3 
6 
16 
23 
6 
25 
17 
20 
9 
20 
18 
16 
3 
5 

Seven  Pines  

GainesMill*  
MalvernHill  
Cedar  Run*  
Second  Manassas*... 
Sharpsburg*  
Fredericksburg*  
Chickamauga*  
Chancellorsville*  
Gettysburg  
Chattanooga  

S.  River  or  M'boro*. 
Wilderness*  
Spottsylvania  C.  H* 
Cold  Harbor*  
Nashville  

1862-63.. 
1864  
1864  
1864  
|l864  

'''Indicate 

Confederates  victorious. 


battles  won  by  Confederates. 

12;  Federals  victorious,  7. 


198       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  report  that  the  per  cent 
of  casualties  (killed  and  wounded)  at  Chickamauga 
is  greater  than  any  other  battle  of  the  war — to  wit : 
twenty-seven  per  cent.  The  next  in  order  are  Gettys 
burg  and  Murfreesboro,  with  twenty-four  per  cent 
each.  It  will  be  remembered,  too,  that  at  Gettys 
burg  the  combined  armies  engaged  aggregated  163,- 
ooo,  while  at  Chickamauga  the  combined  armies 
engaged  numbered  128,000.  The  killed  and  wound 
ed  at  Gettysburg  numbered  37,000,  while  at  Chick 
amauga  the  killed  and  wounded  numbered  35,100 — 
a  difference  of  35,000  in  the  aggregated  strength  of 
the  two  armies  and  only  a  difference  of  1,900  in 
the  number  of  killed  and  wounded.  Gettysburg  and 
Chickamauga  were  the  two  great  battles  of  the  war, 
as  I  have  before  remarked,  the  one  in  the  East 
and  the  other  in  the  West.  In  these  engagements 
the  Confederate  army  had  its  greatest  strength  and 
enthusiasm.  After  these  two  battles  they  fought 
with  some  degree  of  success  to  the  last.  The  North 
continued  to  gather  strength,  while  the  South  had 
no  resources  to  draw  upon.  "The  cradle  and  the 
grave"  had  made  their  liberal  contributions,  and  for 
the  soldier  who  fell  in  action  there  was  no  one  to 
supply  his  place. 

In  the  table  I  have  indicated  the  Murfeesboro — 
or  Stones  River,  as  it  is  called  by  the  Federals — 
battle  as  a  victory  for  the  Confederates  when  it 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       199 

gained  a  great  victory  at  Murf  reesboro  on  the  3Oth 
of  December,  1862;  but  after  two  days'  inactivity 
and  failing  to  follow  it  up,  he  assaulted  the  fortified 
position  of  the  Federals  with  a  single  division,  that 
of  General  Breckenridge,  who,  after  a  gallant  fight, 
was  repulsed  with  heavy  loss  on  the  ist  of  January, 
1863.  That  night  General  Bragg  withdrew  his  army 
and  retreated  to  Shelbyville.  Technically  speaking, 
Colonel  Henderson  is  correct,  for  the  Federals  had 
won  every  portion  of  the  field  at  the  termination  of 
the  battle. 

I  do  not  like  to  criticize  any  portion  of  what  Colo 
nel  Henderson  says  in  his  report,  but  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  he  is  in  error  when  he  places  the  Con 
federate  forces  at  Chickamauga  as  larger  than  those 
of  the  Federal  army.  I  will  do  him  the  justice  to 
say  that  I  have  heard  the  same  claimed  by  Northern 
writers.  The  Confederate  soldiers  claim  that  the 
Federal  army  was  numerically  the  largest.  They 
account  for  the  mistake  in  this  way:  It  was  well 
known  that  General  Longstreet  was  ordered  to 
Chickamauga  to  reenforce  General  Bragg  with  his 
large  veteran  corps  from  General  Lee's  army  in 
Virginia,  numbering  some  twenty  or  twenty-five 
thousand.  But  General  Longstreet  did  not  reach  the 
field  until  the  night  of  the  I9th,  and  participated  in 
the  last  day's  fight,  the  2Oth  of  September.  Only 
two  of  his  divisions  reached  there  in  time  to  take  part 


2OO      Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

McLaws  and  Hood,  numbering  less  than  ten  thou 
sand.  At  a  consultation  had  at  General  Bragg's 
headquarters  on  the  night  of  the  igth  the  Confeder 
ate  army  was  divided  into  two  wings,  General  Polk 
to  command  the  right  wing  and  General  Longstreet 
to  command  the  left  wing.  More  than  two-thirds 
of  the  left  wing  were  troops  of  the  Army  of  Ten 
nessee  and  were  on  the  field  before  General  Long- 
street  arrived.  These  facts  show  that  the  two 
armies  were  about  equal  numerically;  if  anything, 
the  Federal  army  was  the  larger.  The  change  of 
figures  would  adjust  the  relative  strength  of  each 
army.  Anyhow,  there  was  honor  and  glory  won  at 
Chickamauga — enough  to  satisfy  every  American 
soldier  that  took  part  in  that  great  battle.  It  was 
the  deadliest  battle  not  only  of  our  War  between 
the  States,  but  stands  without  a  parallel  in  all  mod 
ern  warfare.  The  great  battle  between  Wellington 
and  Napoleon  at  Waterloo,  fought  in  1815,  falls 
short  of  it  three  per  cent  in  killed  and  wounded, 
when  the  stake  was  the  destiny  of  all  Europe. 

Since  the  war  the  government  of  the  United  States 
has  purchased  the  entire  battle  field  of  Chickamauga 
(thousands  of  acres)  and  transformed  what  was  a 
rugged  and  immense  growth  of  timber  and  under 
growth  into  a  beautiful  national  park,  checking 
every  point  of  interest  with  smooth  roadways,  and 
preserving  at  the  same  time  every  object  as  it  ap 
peared  during  the  battle.  A  military  post  has  been 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       201 

established  there,  which  the  government  is  now  about 
to  enlarge  at  great  expense.  Troops  from  all  the 
States,  both  North  and  South,  participated  in  the 
battle  of  Chickamauga.  Most  of  them  have  erected 
imposing  monuments  to  their  respective  soldiers. 
A  forest  of  monumental  spires  is  to  be  seen  in  any 
direction  one  may  travel  over  the  great  field  of 
battle,  every  one  of  which,  as  it  lifts  its  tall  shaft  to 
the  skies,  tells  of  the  soldiers  who  fought  there, 
whether  they  wore  the  blue  or  the  gray. 

As  I  have  said  before,  the  Confederate  armies 
never  enlisted  more  than  six  hundred  thousand  sol 
diers  from  first  to  last.  I  have  said  also  that  the 
Federal  writers  have  denied  this  and  claimed  more, 
which  under  the  circumstances  they  are  more  than 
anxious  should  be  the  fact.  I  still  insist  that  the 
Confederate  estimate — to  wit,  six  hundred  thousand 
— is  approximately  correct,  as  is  shown  in  the  June 
(1912)  number  of  the  Confederate  Veteran  in  a 
well-digested  and  carefully  prepared  paper  written 
by  Rev.  R.  H.  McKim,  which  most  convincingly 
confirms  these  figures.  President  Tyler,  of  William 
and  Henry  College,  writing  on  "The  South  in  the 
Building  of  the  Nation,"  says :  "In  round  numbers 
the  South  had  on  her  muster  rolls  from  first  to  last 
about  six  hundred  thousand  soldiers."  This  esti 
mate  agrees  with  that  of  Adjutant  General  Cooper, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  keep  an  accurate  roster  of  the 
Confederate  armies  rlnrino-  the 


2O2       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Dr.  Bledsoe,  Vice  President  Alexander  H.  Stephens, 
Gen.  Jubal  A.  Early,  and  Gen.  John  Preston;  also 
with  that  of  many  other  distinguished  and  reliable 
writers  I  could  mention  who  confirm  this  estimate 
of  the  strength  of  the  Confederate  armies. 

Every  paroled  soldier  at  Appomattox  under  Gen 
eral  Lee  on  the  9th  of  April,  1865,  or  under  Gen. 
Joseph  E.  Johnston  at  Greensboro,  N.  C,  on  the 
26th  of  April,  1865,  seventeen  days  afterwards, 
knew  that  he  was  fighting  an  enemy  that  outnum 
bered  him  from  six  or  twelve  to  one.  The  Confed 
erate  paroled  list,  as  well  as  the  morning's  reports 
of  the  Federal  army,  will  show  that  this  is  an  in 
disputable  fact,  and  it  should  go  down  in  history  at 
these  figures. 

The  latest  United  States  census  report  made  prior 
to  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  between  the  States 
shows  that  the  Northern  States  had  a  white  popula 
tion  about  five  times  as  large  as  that  of  the  Southern 
States.  By  the  offering  of  large  bounties,  the  United 
States  enlisted  four  hundred  and  ninety-four  thou 
sand  foreigners.  Many  of  these  at  the  close  of  the 
war  never  claimed  citizenship  here,  but  returned  to 
the  land  of  their  nativity.  Since  the  passage  of  the 
pension  laws  they  have  been  paid  millions  of  dollars 
by  the  United  States.  After  nearly  half  a  century 
the  survivors  are  still  drawing  their  pensions — mer 
cenary  soldiers  in  fact  and  in  deed. 

The  Southern  States  furnished  the  Northern  army 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       203 

276,439  white  troops  and  178,975  colored  troops. 
These  are  well-authenticated  facts  and  fully  justify 
Southern  people  for  the  insistence  they  make  of  the 
comparative  strength  of  the  two  armies  during  the 
war. 

We  claim  that  no  army  has  ever  fought  so  val 
iantly  as  the  Confederate  army.  All  history  fails  to 
show  a  parallel  case.  For  four  years  they  main 
tained  the  unequal  contest,  fighting  more  and  greater 
battles,  conducting  longer  campaigns,  and  enduring 
more  privations  than  were  ever  before  recorded. 
The  South  claims  this  much,  though  in  the  contest 
they  lost  all  save  honor. 

"No  nation  rose  so  white  and  fair, 
Or  fell  so  pure  of  crimes." 

The  Confederate  cavalry  regiments  for  three 
winters  slept  in  the  open  air,  without  tents,  before  a 
log-heap  fire.  In  case  of  rain  or  sleet,  they  would 
get  some  forked  limbs,  place  a  pole  between  the 
forks,  put  rails  on  the  ground,  resting  them  on  the 
pole,  and  spread  an  oilcloth  or  blanket  from  the  pole 
down  to  the  ground.  The  result  was  a  splendid 
"lay-out"  (or  "lay-in"),  especially  with  the  log-heap 
fire  in  front  of  the  opening.  The  poet  has  exclaimed 
in  ecstasy : 

"Balmy  sleep,  tired  nature's  sweet  restorer !" 

One  can  never  experience  the  sentiment  unless  this 
is  tried.  Some  died  in  getting  accustomed  to  it ;  but 


2O4       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

generally  the  survivors  were  stout,  healthy,  and  ac 
tive  soldiers.  A  dry  snow  was  not  to  be  dreaded, 
for  it  supplied  a  covering  equal  to  at  least  two  blan 
kets.  When  morning  bugles  were  sounded,  they 
would  rise,  throwing  blankets  and  snow  off  them, 
feeling  stout  and  strong  enough  to  throw  their  horse 
over  a  ten-rail  fence.  Such  a  morning  made  the 
boys  happy  that  they  were  Confederate  soldiers  and 
that  they  could  dream  of  "home,  sweet  home." 

Every  survivor  of  the  Confederate  army  will  in 
dorse  what  Gen.  Bennett  H.  Young,  Commander  in 
Chief  of  the  United  Confederate  Veterans,  so  well 
and  truthfully  said  in  his  speech  on  Decoration  Day, 
1912,  at  Cave  Hill  Cemetery,  Louisville,  Ky.,  in  part 
as  follows : 

Our  love  of  country  does  not  dim  or  tarnish  the  love  for 
our  Confederation.  The  Confederate  States  lived  only  four 
years,  and  they  occupy  upon  the  pages  of  human  history  more 
space  than  any  other  nation  that  lived  for  the  same  length  of 
time.  We  are  not  ashamed  for  what  they  did;  we  rejoice  in 
what  we  suffered.  The  glory  and  grandeur  of  the  character  of 
the  Confederate  soldier  we  shall  maintain  for  all  time.  We 
have  nothing  to  say  derogatory  to  the  courage,  valor,  and 
patriotism  of  our  countrymen  who  sleep  beneath  the  stars  and 
stripes,  and  whose  graves  are  kept  green  by  a  nation's  grati 
tude  and  love ;  but  we  affirm  that  no  nation  of  equal  numbers, 
with  the  limitation  of  a  large  population  of  slaves,  enlisted 
proportionately  so  vast  a  number  of  men  under  its  standards 
or  ever  undertook  to  defend  so  vast  a  territory.  We  contend 
that  no  army  of  equal  numbers  ever  fought  so  many  battles  in 
so  brief  a  period  or  suffered  such  tremendous  losses.  One 
man  in  every  three  who  wore  the  Confederate  uniform  died 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       205 

on  the  battle  field  or  from  wounds  received  in  conflict  or  in 
the  hospital.  History  details  no  account  of  such  a  vast  per 
centage  of  mortality  or  such  tremendous  sacrifices.  These 
losses  proclaim  the  incontestable  valor  of  the  Confederate  sol 
diers,  and  no  people  who  ever  engaged  in  war  inflicted  upon 
their  enemy  such  vast  damage  and  injury. 

But  few  remain  of  the  line  that  went  down  with 
the  flag  on  the  26th  of  April,  1865,  at  Greensboro, 
N.  C.  Another  generation  has  come  and  gone  since 
then.  We  seldom  see  each  other  now.  May  we  meet 
again  in  the  great  hereafter ! 

"In  many  a  lonely  thicket, 

Far  from  life's  beaten  track, 
The  scout  and  guard  and  picket, 

The  boys  who  never  came  back : 
They  died  where  the  cannon's  thunder 

Made  savage  pulses  thrill, 
That  the  flag  they  battled  under 

Might  wave  o'er  free  men  still." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
AFTER  THE  WAR. 

THE  assassination  of  President  Lincoln  was  in  a 
special  way  most  calamitous  to  the  citizens  of  the 
South.  It  intensified  and  augmented  to  the  highest 
degree  the  angry  passions  engendered  by  four  years 
of  war  and  postponed  for  years  that  reconciliation  of 
the  two  sections  that  the  surrender  of  the  Confed 
erate  armies  should  have  brought  about,  happening 
as  it  did  when  the  North  was  ablaze  with  bonfires  in 
exultation  over  the  downfall  of  the  Confederate  gov 
ernment  ;  for  General  Lee  had  evacuated  Petersburg, 
Richmond  the  capital  had  fallen,  and  its  civil  officers 
were  fugitives.  ••'. 

The  great  crime  committed  by  Booth  was  the 
act  of  a  madman,  born  of  the  spirit  that  had  sug 
gested  the  burning  of  the  ancient  and  famed  Tem 
ple  of  Diana.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  North 
ern  press  teemed  with  the  most  exciting  and  inflam 
matory  editorials,  even  charging  well-known  and 
most  respectable  citizens  of  the  South  and  the  offi 
cials  of  the  Confederate  government  itself  with  com 
plicity  in  the  crime.  Reason  was  dethroned,  and  it 
was  unsafe  to  express  a  different  conclusion. 

At  the  South  the  act  met  with  the  most  pro 
found  and  pronounced  condemnation,  not  only  by 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       207 

the  citizens  of  the  South,  but  by  the  soldiers 
who  had  surrendered  and  were  awaiting  their 
paroles.  I  remember  that  when  the  information 
reached  the  army  at  Greensboro,  N.  C,  one  would 
have  supposed  that  there  would  have  been  some  in 
discreet  expressions  or  exultations,  but  instead  of 
that  it  was  received  in  silence  and  with  pronounced 
expressions  of  the  severest  condemnation. 

It  is  believed  that  if  Mr.  Lincoln  had  survived  the 
war  there  would  have  been  no  such  radical  measures 
enacted  and  enforced  as  existed  for  years  after  the 
declaration  of  peace.  The  changed  condition  that 
the  war  had  wrought  was  accepted  in  good  faith  by 
the  people  of  the  South,  and  the  legislation  necessary 
to  adjust  the  autonomy  of  the  seceded  States  would 
have  taken  place  peaceably  and  at  once.  In  fact,  it 
is  surprising  that  the  good  and  just  people  of  the 
North  did  not  intervene  to  prevent  this  long  period 
of  misrule  and  the  unlawful  exercise  of  power  and 
oppression.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  speak  in  detail 
of  this  now  more  than  to  say  that  I  do  not  think  a 
darker  picture  was  ever  spread  before  human  minds 
than  was  presented  during  the  long  years  of  recon 
struction  in  the  South. 

The  first  ray  of  sunshine  to  penetrate  the  darkness 
was  when  Brownlow's  self-constituted  legislature 
elected  him  to  the  United  States  Senate.  It  was 
well  assumed  that  his  counterpart  could  not  be  pro 
duced  again.  DeWitt  Senter  was  Speaker  of  the 


208       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Senate  and  became  Governor  by  virtue  of  his  office. 
He  was  from  East  Tennessee  and  had  been  a  con 
sistent  Union  man,  with  no  feelings  of  enmity  to 
ward  his  fellow  citizens  from  whom  he  differed 
regarding  public  questions.  Col.  W.  B.  Stokes,  a 
native  of  Middle  Tennessee,  was  the  logical  successor 
to  Brownlow.  The  Governor  and  legislature  of  the 
State  were  to  be  elected  in  a  short  time  after  Brown- 
low's  election  to  the  Senate,  and  Acting  Governor 
Senter  was  a  candidate  for  the  office,  as  well  as 
Colonel  Stokes.  To  beat  Stokes  it  was  necessary  to 
have  another  registration  of  votes,  for  as  the  poll 
stood  Stokes  was  certain  to  be  elected.  Senter  was 
fully  aware  of  this ;  and  having  the  power  by  law  to 
ask  for  another  registration,  he  did  so,  and  at  once 
issued  indiscriminately  to  the  voters  of  the  State  the 
necessary  certificates.  He  was  elected  Governor, 
with  a  conservative,  representative  legislature.  A 
constitutional  convention  was  called,  to  which  was 
elected  by  the  whole  people  an  able  and  representative 
body  of  men,  who  enacted  a  new  State  constitution 
in  1870  embracing  the  necessary  amendments.  In 
due  time  after  this  all  obnoxious  and  oppressive  laws 
were  repealed  by  the  legislature,  and  the  State  gov 
ernment  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  its  citizens 
again,  which  was  the  signal  for  the  accumulated 
horde  of  vampires  to  fold  their  tents  and  march 
away  in  quest  of  a  more  congenial  clime. 

If  there  lingered  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       209 

the  North  a  feeling  that  the  South  was  disloyal  to 
the  government,  it  was  dispelled  by  the  breaking-  out 
of  the  Spanish-American  War  in  1898,  when  they 
saw  with  what  alacrity  and  unmistakable  patriotism 
the  Southern  States  answered  the  call  made  upon 
them  for  their  quota  of  volunteer  troops ;  and  tender 
ing  at  once  more  than  were  necessary,  it  could  not  but 
satisfy  every  doubting  Thomas.  Besides  this,  quite 
a  number  of  the  South's  most  noted  generals  during 
the  War  between  the  States  tendered  their  services 
and  were  accepted  by  the  President,  valiantly  assist 
ing  in  bringing  the  war  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion. 
If  that  war  effected  no  other  result,  it  was  sufficient, 
if  not  necessary,  that  it  had  happened  in  order  to 
silence  forever  all  doubt  upon  the  question  of  the 
loyalty  and  patriotism  of  the  Southern  people. 

The  territory  of  the  United  States  has  broadened 
by  the  annexation  of  a  number  of  new  sovereign 
States.  Its  population  in  every  section  has  been  in 
creased  to  a  remarkable  degree  since  the  war.  We 
feel  that  we  are  justified  in  saying  that  peace,  pros 
perity,  and  happiness  exist  to-day  throughout  its 
borders.  To  extend  these  national  blessings  to  fu 
ture  generations,  we  should  remember  that  it  can  be 
done  only  by  the  enactment  and  enforcement  of  laws 
tempered  with  justice,  founded  in  wisdom,  and  in 
sustaining  the  decisions  of  an  incorruptible  judiciary, 
which  is  the  last  and  strongest  hope  of  the  liberty 
and  freedom  of  the  people. 
14 


2io       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

The  ex-Confederate  soldier  who  faithfully  per 
formed  his  duty  during  the  War  between  the  States 
can  now  rest  satisfied  that  the  future  historian  will 
do  him  justice  in  his  heroic  effort  to  maintain  the 
Constitution  enacted  by  his  rebellious  forefathers  and 
his  attempt  to  enforce  the  decisions  made  by  the 
highest  tribunal  of  his  country.  He  is  as  law- 
abiding  to-day,  nearly  half  a  century  afterwards,  as 
he  was  then. 


CHAPTER   XVII.* 

GENERAL  UKAGG'S  KENTUCKY  CAMPAIGN  IN  1862. 
BY  BAXTER  SMITH. 

IN  June,  1862,  after  the  retreat  of  the  Confederate 
army  from  Corinth  to  Tupelo,  Miss.,  in  view  of 
important  movements  to  the  northward  had  in  mind 
by  the  Confederate  authorities,  it  was  deemed  wise 
by  General  Bragg,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  chief 
command  of  the  Army  of  Mississippi,  to  transfer 
Col.  N.  B.  Forrest  to  Gen.  E.  Kirby  Smith's  Depart 
ment  of  East  Tennessee,  in  order  that  he  might 
operate  on  BuelFs  line  of  communication  with  Nash 
ville  and  Louisville,  as  well  as  Cincinnati. 

At  Tupelo  the  army  was  thoroughly  reorganized 
by  that  master  hand.  Gen.  Braxton  Bragg,  for  an 
aggressive  campaign  into  and  through  the  State  of 
Kentucky — one  column  under  Gen.  E.  Kirby  Smith, 
whose  objective  was  Cincinnati,  and  one  column 

*I  was  not  in  the  Kentucky  campaign  of  Gen.  Braxton 
Bragg  in  the  summer  and  earl)-  fall  of  1862.  I  have  asked 
Colonel  Smith  to  write  it.  as  he  was  a  major  in  command  of 
five  companies  that  afterwards  formed  a  part  of  the  Fourth 
Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment,  of  which  he  was  commissioned 
colonel  at  its  organization,  in  October,  1862.  In  order  that 
this  narrative  may  present  a  full  history  of  their  services  and 
his  own  during  the  war,  he  has  contributed  the  interesting 
account  in  Chapter  XVIT. 


212       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

under  General  Bragg  himself,  his  objective  being 
Louisville,  Ky.  While  the  Army  of  Mississippi 
lay  at  Tupelo,  Miss.,  it  was  reorganized,  drilled, 
and  placed  in  a  high  degree  of  efficiency  preparatory 
to  its  northward  movement,  which,  when  made, 
would  necessarily  draw  General  Buell  from  his  base, 
then  in  North  Alabama. 

Pursuant  to  General  Bragg's  order,  Colonel  For 
rest  proceeded  to  Chattanooga,  and  from  thence  to 
the  vicinity  of  McMinnville,  where  he  organized  his 
first  brigade,  consisting  of  about  1,300  men.  Leav 
ing  Colonel  Forrest  at  Chattanooga,  I  reported  at 
Knoxville  to  Gen.  F.  Kirby  Smith,  who,  when  my 
credentials  were  presented,  remarked  that  I  was  the 
man  he  was  looking  for.  He  at  once  commissioned 
me  as  major  of  cavalry  and  ordered  me  to  repair 
to  London  and  take  command  of  a  battalion  sta 
tioned  there  and  join  Colonel  Forrest  near  McMinn 
ville,  which  T  did  at  once.  After  organizing  the 
brigade  and  putting  it  in  the  best  state  of  efficiency 
that  could  be  done  with  raw  troops,  many  of  whom 
were  badly  mounted  and  armed  and  many  of  whom 
had  never  been  under  fire,  the  commanding  officer 
called  a  council  of  war  to  determine  what  movement 
should  be  first  made  by  the  new  brigade.  Before 
this  time  efficient  and  trustworthy  scouts  had  been 
dispatched  to  the  vicinity  of  various  important 
points  along  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  Rail 
road,  it  being  deemed  important  to  inflict  as  much 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       213 

damage  as  possible  to  that  road,  which  was  the  main 
line  of  communication  of  Buell  in  his  expected  re 
treat  to  Nashville  and  thence  to  Louisville.  There 
were  many  important  points  along  that  road  that 
were  garrisoned,  Murfreesboro,  a  city  of  from  three 
to  five  thousand  inhabitants,  being  regarded  as  the 
most  formidable.  A  detailed  account  of  the  engage 
ment  there  was  made  by  me  many  years  ago,  and  is 
as  follows: 

Colonel  Forrest  left  Tupelo  early  in  June,  1862, 
with  a  small  staff,  for  the  scenes  of  his  new  opera 
tions.  Proceeding  across  the  country  to  Knoxville, 
he  reported  to  General  Smith,  who  assigned  him  to 
the  command  of  a  brigade  of  cavalry,  the  various 
commands  of  which  were  ordered  to  report  at  a 
place  known  as  Rock  Martins,  about  seven  miles 
east  of  McMinnville.  There  Forrest's  first  brigade 
was  formed,  and  consisted  of  the  Eighth  Texas 
(Terry's  Rangers)  Regiment,  commanded  by  Col. 
John  A.  Wharton ;  the  Second  Georgia  Regiment, 
commanded  by  Col.  J.  K.  Lawton ;  the  First  Georgia 
Battalion,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Mor 
rison  ;  and  a  battalion  consisting  of  four  companies 
of  Tennessee  cavalry  and  a  squadron  of  Kentuck- 
ians  formerly  of  Helm's  Regiment,  all  placed  un 
der  the  command  of  Maj.  (afterwards  Colonel) 
Baxter  Smith.  The  entire  effective  force,  armed, 
numbered  about  1,300  men,  all  cavalry,  many  of 
whom  had  seen  but  little  service,  and  what  they 


214       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

would  accomplish  under  their  new  leader  had  to  be 
determined  by  testing  them. 

Reliable  scouts  were  sent  out  along-  the  railroad 
as  far  as  and  beyond  Murfreesboro,  and  informa 
tion  of  an  important  character  was  obtained,  par 
ticularly  of  the  situation  at  Murfreesboro.  It  was 
found  that  Murfreesboro  was  garrisoned  by  a  force 
of  about  2,000  men — two  regiments  of  infantry,  a 
battalion  of  cavalry,  four  new  field  pieces  of  artil 
lery,  and  a  company  of  125  men. 

With  this  information  at  hand,  Forrest  held  per 
haps  his  first  council  of  war,  where  all  the  news 
brought  in  by  scouts  was  laid  before  the  council. 
All  the  field  officers  were  present,  as  well  as  several 
citizens  of  distinction  who  were  volunteer  aides  on 
Forrest's  staff,  among  the  number  being  Colonel 
Saunders ;  Hon.  Andrew  Ewing,  a  distinguished 
lawyer  of  Nashville ;  and  F.  C.  Dunnington,  former 
editor  of  the  Nashville  Union.  As  a  result  of  the 
conference,  at  which  it  was  evident  that  Forrest  was 
the  master  spirit,  it  was  determined  to  make  a  de 
scent  on  Murfreesboro.  The  command  was  put  in 
motion  late  on  Saturday,  July  12,  with  orders  to 
"keep  well  closed  up"  and  to  make  Murfreesboro  by 
daylight  the  next  morning,  a  distance  of  forty  miles. 
After  it  had  been  determined  to  make  a  descent  on 
Murfreesboro,  Forrest  had  his  brigade  drawn  up 
and  made  a  stirring  appeal  to  the  officers  and  men 
to  sustain  him  in  the  effort  he  was  about  to  under- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       215 

take.  He  told  them  that  the  next  day  (July  13) 
would  be  the  anniversary  of  his  birth  and  that  he 
would  like  to  celebrate  it  at  Murfreesboro,  near  his 
birthplace,  in  a  becoming-  manner.  All  of  the  com 
mands  promised  that  they  would  contribute  what 
they  could  to  the  felicitation  of  the  occasion.  To 
Capt.  Edwin  Arnold,  afterwards  sheriff  of  Ruther 
ford  County,  Colonel  Forrest  was  indebted  for  much 
information  connected  with  the  expedition. 

The  command  moved  at  a  rapid  rate,  reaching 
\Yooclbury  about  midnight,  where  the  whole  popu 
lation  of  the  town  seemed  to  be  on  the  streets.  The 
ladies  of  the  town  gathered  about  Colonel  Forrest 
and  related  to  him  and  his  command  the  events  of 
the  evening  before,  when  a  large  detachment  of 
Federal  soldiers  had  swooped  down  upon  the  tow  si 
and  had  carried  away  almost  ever}-  man,  young  and 
old,  in  the  town,  and  had  rushed  them  off  to  prison 
in  Murfreesboro.  These  ladies  appealed  to  Colonel 
Forrest  in  the  most  moving  tones  to  rescue  their 
husbands,  fathers,  and  brothers  and  restore  them 
to  their  homes,  which  he  promised  them  he  would 
do  before  sunset  the  next  day,  a  promise  that  he 
literally  fulfilled.  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion  never 
made  brighter  resolve  to  rescue  the  holy  sepulcher 
from  the  infidel  when  he  donned  his  armor  and  went 
forth  to  battle  with  the  Saracens  than  did  Forrest 
on  this  occasion. 

After  partaking  of  a  bountiful   repast   for  men 


216       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

and  horses,  the  movement  was  rapidly  resumed, 
Murfreesboro  being  still  some  eighteen  or  twenty 
miles  distant.  Reaching  the  vicinity  of  the  city  in 
the  gray  dawn  of  the  morning,  the  scouts  that  had 
been  sent  forward  reported  that  the  pickets  were 
stationed  a  short  distance  ahead.  A  small  detach 
ment  was  sent  forward  by  Colonel  Wharton,  who 
was  in  the  advance,  and  the  pickets  were  captured, 
leaving  an  unobstructed  road  into  the  city.  About 
this  time  other  scouts  reported  that  they  had  just 
returned  from  the  city  and  had  passed  near  all  the 
encampments,  that  all  was  quiet  and  no  notice  of  the 
impending  danger  seemed  to  have  been  given,  and 
that  they  appeared  not  to  apprehend  it.  Among 
the  scouts  performing  this  dangerous  and  impor 
tant  service  were  Capt.  Fred  James,  a  gallant  soldier 
of  Bragg' s  army  and  a  native  of  Murfreesboro,  who 
afterwards  fell  in  sight  of  his  home  at  the  battle 
of  Murfreesboro,  December  31,  1862.  Another 
was  Capt.  J.  W.  Nichol,  who  is  happily  spared  to 
us.  He  afterwards,  until  the  close  of  the  war,  com 
manded  Company  G  (chiefly  Rutherford  and  Can 
non  County  men)  in  Col.  Baxter  Smith's  Fourth 
Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.  No  truer  or  better 
soldier  ever  went  forth  to  battle.  He  was  wounded 
so  often  that  it  is  doubtful  if  he  knows  himself  how 
often,  the  last  wound  having  been  received  at  Ben- 
tonville,  N.  C. 

Everything  being  ready,  dispositions  were  made 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       217 

for  the  attack,  the  expectation  being  to  surprise  the 
garrison.  It  was  desired  to  attack  the  enemy  at  all 
points  simultaneously.  The  first  force  to  be  en 
countered  was  the  Ninth  Michigan  Infantry  and  a 
squadron  of  cavalry  located  on  the  Liberty  Pike. 
The  order  was  to  form  fours,  the  Eighth  Texas 
to  charge  into  the  encampment  in  columns  of  pla 
toons,  which  was  executed  in  handsome  style,  and 
very  shortly  they  were  in  the  midst  of  the  Federal 
encampment.  The  soldiers,  for  the  most  part,  were 
in  their  tents  enjoying  their  Sunday  morning  sleep; 
but  they  were  very  soon  rallied  and  put  up  a  sharp 
fight  from  behind  wagons  or  any  other  protection 
they  could  find,  many  of  them  being  undressed.  In 
the  first  onset  Colonel  Wharton  was  wounded,  as 
well  as  Colonel  Duffield.  the  Federal  commander. 
In  the  effort  to  rally  his  men,  Colonel  Wharton  was 
at  a  disadvantage  in  that  four  of  his  rear  companies, 
mistaking  the  orders,  followed  the  lead  of  Colonel 
Morrison,  who  charged  into  the  public  square  of 
the  city,  in  the  center  of  which  stood  the  courthouse, 
which  was  garrisoned.  After  a  sharp  contest,  the 
Eighth  Texas  withdrew  on  the  McMinnville  Road 
with  a  large  number  of  prisoners,  there  being  still  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  Ninth  Michigan  in  their 
encampment,  which  afterwards  surrendered.  Maj. 
Baxter  Smith  was  ordered  to  charge  the  cavalry 
encampment,  somewhat  detached  from  the  infantry, 


218       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

which  was  done.     They  were  captured  just  as  they 
were  preparing  to  mount  their  horses. 

While  these  movements  were  progressing.  Colonel 
Morrison  was  ordered  to  take  his  battalion  and 
charge  upon  the  courthouse,  which  he  did,  taking 
by  mistake  four  companies  of  the  Eighth  Texas,  as 
already  stated,  and  surrounding  the  courthouse, 
which  was  garrisoned  by  one  company  of  the  Ninth 
Michigan.  This  garrison  was  so  well  protected  that 
they  could  not  he  reached  by  the  Confederates  from 
the  outside,  but  the  latter  were  picked  off  in  every 
direction  as  they  surrounded  the,  courthouse. 
Among  many  others  who  fell  here  was  the  accom 
plished  Colonel  Saunders,  of  the  staff,  who  was  shot, 
the  ball  passing  entirely  through  his  body  and  one 
lung.  After  lingering  long,  he  happily  recovered. 

There  was  much  firing  from  houses  and  behind 
fences  in  different  parts  of  the  city  where  Federal 
soldiers  were  billeted  or  concealed  and  were  practi 
cally  in  ambush.  In  this  exigency  Colonel  Forrest 
came  upon  the  scene,  and  the  men  hastily  procured 
axes.  The  Texans  and  Georgians,  led  by  Forrest, 
sprang  forward  in  front  of  the  courthouse,  while 
Morrison  brought. up  his  men  to  the  rear  or  west  side. 
The  doors  were  quickly  battered  down,  and  the  Con 
federates  swarmed  inside  and  captured  the  garrison. 
It  was  found  that  the  courthouse  and  jail  were 
filled  with  citizens  (about  one  hundred  and  fifty) 
of  the  town  and  surrounding  country,  including 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       219 

those  brought  in  from  Wooclbury  the  day  before. 
These  persons  had  been  arrested  and  thrown  into 
prison  at  the  instance,  mainly,  of  informers  on  va 
rious  pretexts.  Six  of  the  number,  some  being  men 
of  prominence,  were  at  the  time  under  sentence  of 
death,  or,  as  expressed  by  a  newspaper  correspond 
ent  from  there  just  before  this  time,  were  to  "ex 
piate  their  crimes  on  the  gallows."  Among  this 
number  was  Judge  Richardson,  now  an  honored 
member  of  Congress  from  the  Huntsville  ( Ala. } 
district. 

By  the  time  the  courthouse  was  opened  and  there 
was  a  general  delivery  at  the  jail,  whose  doors  were 
also  forced  open,  the  city  seemed  alive  with  people, 
including  many  of  the  families  and  friends  of  the 
captives,  and  the  shouting  and  rejoicing  that  went 
up  on  that  occasion  \vill  probably  never  be  equaled 
in  that  community  again.  The  cavalry  and  garrison 
at  the  courthouse  had  surrendered,  but  there  was 
formidable  work  yet  to  be  accomplished. 

The  Third  Minnesota  Regiment  of  infantry  was 
stationed  northwest  of  the  city,  near  Stones  River, 
and  at  a  point  near  by  were  four  guns  that  had 
been  firing  most  of  the  day  when  opportunity  of 
fered.  It  was  now  past  noon.  Forrest  made  his 
disposition  to  attack  the  Federal  forces  in  this  quar 
ter.  Accordingly,  he  made  a  rapid  detour  to  the 
right  at  the  head  of  Major  Smith's  battalion  and 
the  Georgia  troops  and  also  a  small  company  of 


22O       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

twenty  men  under  P.  F.  Anderson.  Seeing  the 
Confederates  approaching,  the  Federals,  then  about 
five  hundred  yards  south  of  their  camp,  halted  and 
formed  line  of  battle,  there  being  some  nine  compa 
nies  of  infantry  and  four  pieces  of  artillery.  Di 
recting  the  Georgians  to  confront  and  menace  the 
enemy  and  engage  with  skirmishers,  taking  Major 
Smith  with  his  battalion,  which  included  the  Ken- 
tuckians  and  three  companies  of  Morrison's  Geor 
gians  under  Major  Harper,  Forrest  pushed  rapidly 
around  to  the  right  and  rear  of  the  encampment, 
which  proved  to  be  still  occupied  by  about  one  hun 
dred  men  posted  behind  a  strong  barricade  of  wag 
ons  and  some  large  limestone  ledges  which  afforded 
excellent  protection.  He  therefore  "ordered  a 
charge,  which  was  promptly  and  handsomely  made, 
Majors  Smith  and  Harper  leading  their  men.  They 
were  met,  however,  with  a  stubborn,  brave  defense. 
Twice,  indeed,  the  Confederates  were  repulsed. 
But  Forrest,  drawing  his  men  up  for  a  third  effort, 
made  a  brief  appeal  to  their  manhood;  and,  putting 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  column,  the  charge  was 
again  ordered,  this  time  with  success.  The  encamp 
ment  was  penetrated,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
Federals  was  either  killed  or  captured." 

The  above  in  quotation  marks  is  taken  from  For 
rest's  account  of  this  part  of  the  affair.  An  incident 
occurred  at  this  point  which  has  been  grossly  mis 
represented,  to  Forrest's  prejudice.  While  passing 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       221 

through  the  encampment  he  was  lired  at  several 
times  by  a  negro,  who  suddenly  emerged  from  one 
of  the  tents.  Forrest  returned  the  fire  and  killed 
him,  and  did  exactly  what  he  ought  to  have  done. 
This  came  under  the  personal  observation  of  the 
writer. 

The  Georgians  that  had  been  left  to  confront  the 
main  body  of  the  enemy,  hearing  the  continued 
struggle  in  the  encampment  and  mistaking  it  for  an 
attack  in  the  rear  of  the  Federal  force  that  they 
were  confronting,  charged  in  front,  broke  their 
line,  and  swept  to  the  rear.  Finding  that  the  Fed 
erals  quickly  reformed  their  sundered  line  and  held 
their  ground  firmly  on  an  elevated  ridge,  from 
which  position  it  was  manifest  that  they  would 
be  hard  to  dislodge,  Forrest  thereupon  promptly 
changed  his  plan  of  operation  with  that  fertility  of 
resource  so  characteristic  of  him.  Placing  Major 
Harper  with  his  three  companies  so  as  to  cut  off 
retreat  toward  Nashville,  disposing  of  Morrison's 
other  four  companies  as  skirmishers  in  front  to 
prevent  movement  on  Murfreesboro,  and  sending 
off  the  prisoners  just  taken  on  the  McMinnville  road, 
with  munitions  captured,  Forrest  led  Lawton's  regi 
ment  and  Smith's  battalion  rapidly  back  to  Mur 
freesboro,  sending  a  staff  officer  at  the  same  time 
for  the  Eighth  Texas,  which  he  found  had  gone 
about  four  miles  out  on  the  McMinnville  Road. 

It  was  now  about  one  o'clock,  and  as  vet  little  of 


222       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

a  decisive  character  had  been  accomplished,  while 
among  many  of  his  officers  there  was  manifest  want 
of  confidence  in  the  final  success  in  the  movement. 
Some  officers,  indeed,  urged  Colonel  Forrest  to  be 
contented  with  what  had  been  accomplished.  But, 
instead  of  heeding  this  advice,  Forrest  dismounted 
Major  Smith's  battalion  and  threw  him  forward 
with  directions  to  engage  in  a  skirmish  with  the 
Federal  force  that  was  still  occupying  the  encamp 
ment  of  the  Ninth  Michigan.  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Hood,  of  the  Second  Georgia,  at  the  same  time  was 
ordered  to  lead  that  regiment  to  a  point  to  the  left  of 
the  Federal  position  and  prepare  for  a  charge  dis 
mounted,  while  Colonel  Lawton  was  detailed  to 
write  a  demand  for  the  enemy's  immediate  surrender. 

All  the  while,  as  the  report  of  Forrest  shows, 
''Smith  and  his  men  were  maintaining  a  brisk  skir 
mish."  Just  as  the  Confederate  demand  was  pre 
sented,  Wharton's  regiment  came  opportunely  in 
view.  The  effect  was  most  fortunate.  Without 
further  parley,  and  much  to  the  surprise  of  many  of 
the  Confederate  officers,  the  surrender  was  at  once 
made  of  the  Michigan  regiment.  This  accomplished, 
detachments  were  made  which  collected  the  large 
wagon  train  filled  with  supplies  most  necessary,  de 
stroying  what  could  not  be  carried  off. 

Colonel  Forrest,  with  no  loss  of  time,  sent  his 
adjutant,  Major  Strange,  to  the  beleaguered  Minne 
sota  regiment,  demanding  its  surrender.  The  colo- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       223 

nel  of  the  regiment,  Lester,  asked  to  be  allowed  to 
interview  Colonel  Duffield,  of  the  Ninth  Michigan, 
who  was  wounded  and  was  a  prisoner  at  the  Maney 
house,  near  where  the  Ninth  Michigan  was  en 
camped.  The  interview  was  accorded;  but  Colonel 
Lester  asked  an  hour's  delay  to  confer  with  his  offi 
cers,  and  was  given  thirty  minutes,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  Forrest  ostentatiously  displayed  his 
troops  along  the  path  that  Colonel  Lester  was  led 
iii  going  and  returning  from  his  interview  with 
Colonel  Duffield,  so  as  to  make  him  believe  that  his 
strength  was  greater  than  it  was.  The  object  was 
accomplished,  and  just  before  night  of  that  long 
summer  clay  the  last  of  the  Federal  forces  at  Mur- 
freesboro  capitulated. 

This  last  surrender  embraced  the  artillery.  On 
account  of  the  proximity  of  the  large  Federal  forces 
at  other  points,  Colonel  Forrest  had  everything  de 
stroyed  that  could  not  be  taken  away,  and  by  six 
o'clock  his  brigade  was  in  motion  for  McMinnville. 

The  result  of  this  affair  was  the  capture  of  some 
1,765  prisoners,  including  Brigadier  General  Crit- 
tenden.  commanding  the  post,  600  head  of  horses 
and  mules,  forty  or  fifty  wagons,  five  or  six  ambu 
lances,  four  pieces  of  artillery,  and  1,200  stands  of 
arms.  A  Federal  writer  from  Murfreesboro  esti 
mated  their  loss  in  property  and  munitions  at  one 
million  dollars.  In  addition  to  the  prisoners  cap 
tured  and  taken,  about  one  hundred  stragglers  came 


224       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

in  the  next  day,  and  were  paroled  by  Colonel  Saun- 
ders,  desperately  wounded  as  he  was. 

After  the  troops  and  prisoners  (together  with  the 
captured  property)  were  put  in  motion  on  the  Mc- 
Minnville  Road,  Maj.  Baxter  Smith  was  ordered  to 
proceed  along  the  line  of  the  railroad  as  far  south 
ward  as  Christiana  and  destroy  the  bridges,  then  to 
return  to  Murfreesboro  and  destroy  the  bridges 
across  Stones  River.  This  order  was  executed,  re 
sulting  in  the  destruction  of  the  bridges  and  the  cap 
ture  of  a  small  garrison  guarding  a  bridge  some  five 
miles  from  the  city.  The  last  of  these  orders  was 
executed  about  midnight  Sunday  night,  and  Mur 
freesboro  was  unoccupied  by  soldiers  of  either  army, 
except  the  wounded,  who  could  not  be  carried  away. 

After  Forrest's  brilliant  engagement  at  Murfrees 
boro  (which  made  him  a  brigadier  general),  he 
made  proper  disposition  of  his  prisoners.  After  a 
rest  of  a  day  or  two,  the  command,  including  my 
battalion,  to  which,  previous  to  the  battle,  were  at 
tached  two  splendid  companies  of  Kentuckians  com 
manded  by  Captains  Taylor  and  Waltham,  was  put 
in  motion  toward  Lebanon,  some  fifty  miles  dis 
tant,  at  which  point  it  was  reported  that  a  Federal 
force  of  some  five  hundred  men  were  stationed. 
Marching  day  and  night,  Lebanon  was  reached 
about  dawn  July  20,  to  find  that  the  enemy  had 
heard  of  our  approach  in  time  to  escape.  No  more 
hospitable  treatment  could  have  been  accorded  the 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       225 

soldiers  than  was  given  by  the  splendid  citizenship 
of  this  old,  historic  town.  The  noble  women  of  the 
town  vied  with  each  other  in  superb  entertainment. 

On  the  next  day  the  command  was  moved  in  the 
direction  of  Nashville,  thirty  miles  distant,  then 
strongly  fortified  and  garrisoned  by  a  large  Federal 
force  under  command  of  General  Negley,  as  well  as 
the  redoubtable  Military  Governor,  Andrew  John 
son.  To  lend  inspiration  to  the  troops,  a  party  of 
irrepressible  young  women  with  escorts  appeared  on 
the  scene  near  the  Hermitage,  twelve  miles  from 
Nashville,  to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  the  battle 
of  Bull  Run,  being  well  supplied  with  edibles  for 
their  picnic,  to  which  the  soldiers  were  invited,  and 
many  spent  an  enjoyable  hour. 

At  a  point  on  Stones  River  about  seven  miles 
from  Nashville  a  picket  force  was  captured,  as  well 
as  a  small  picket  force  near  the  lunatic  asylum, 
driving  the  balance  into  the  city.  Simultaneously 
with  these  operations  a  small  Confederate  force, 
probably  under  Duvall  McNairy,  without  any  con 
cert  of  action  with  Forrest's  command,  dashed  on 
the  Federal  pickets  and  drove  them  in  on  the  Frank 
lin  Road,  producing  the  belief  in  the  city  that  it  was 
surrounded  and  threatened  with  a  serious  assault. 
The  long  roll  was  called,  and  general  preparations 
were  made  in  the  city  to  resist  the  assault. 

Pushing  forward  to  Mill  Creek,  four  miles  from 
the  city,  which  was  spanned  by  a  bridge,  we  as- 
15 


226       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

saulted  the  small  force  which  guarded  the  bridge, 
capturing  some  twenty  prisoners  and  destroying  the 
bridge.  Antioch,  about  one  mile  distant,  was  next 
attacked.  We  captured  some  thirty-five  prisoners, 
destroyed  the  depot,  stores,  and  freight  cars,  and 
burned  the  bridges.  Part  of  the  command  was  here 
detached  and  moved  in  the  direction  of  Murfrees- 
boro,  destroying  a  bridge,  capturing  fifteen  more 
prisoners,  and  killing  and  wounding  about  as  many, 
without  sustaining  any  loss. 

After  Forrest's  capture  of  Murfreesboro,  General 
Nelson  was  sent  out  from  Nashville  with  an  infantry 
force  of  about  3,500  men,  which  vainly  tried  to 
come  up  with  Forrest,  marching  and  countermarch 
ing,  finally  landing  at  Murfreesboro,  giving  up  the 
chase  in  disgust.  General  Forrest  then  moved  to 
McMinnville  and  halted  for  rest  and  observation  of 
the  enemy's  movements  till  August  10,  when  the 
main  army  under  General  Bragg  moved,  from  which 
point  the  command,  being  threatened  with  a  superior 
force,  fell  back  to  Sparta,  Meantime  General  Bragg 
had  established  his  headquarters  at  Chattanooga, 
where  he  was  concentrating  the  Army  of  Mississippi 
for  his  contemplated  campaign  into  Kentucky. 

General  Forrejst  next  moved  from  Sparta  to 
Woodbury,  to  the  enemy's  rear,  threatening  Mur 
freesboro.  From  there  the  command  moved  up  the 
railroad,  destroying  all  the  bridges  and  tearing  up 
the  railroad  track  near  McMinnville. 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       227 

Near  Altamont  the  Federals  had  almost  sur 
rounded  Forrest's  small  force ;  but  by  superior  strat 
egy  he  escaped.,  leading  his  brigade  back  to  Sparta, 
which  place  the  advance  of  General  Bragg* s  army 
had  already  reached.  This  was  early  in  September, 
1862.  After  being  reenforced  by  four  companies 
of  cavalry  of  his  old  regiment  and  a  section  of  ar 
tillery,  Forrest  was  assigned  the  duty  of  guarding 
General  Bragg' s  left  flank  and  rear,  he  being  now  in 
full  movement  for  Kentucky. 

My  command  moved  along  the  line  of  the  Louis 
ville  and  Nashville  Railroad  practically  all  the  way 
from  near  Nashville  to  within  about  six  miles  of 
Louisville,  destroying  bridges  and  tearing  up  the 
track.  After  reaching  Louisville,  Forrest  was  or 
dered  to  report  to  General  Polk.  Under  Folk's  or 
ders  wre  moved  to  Munfordville  in  time  to  prevent 
the  escape  of  a  large  force  of  infantry  (3,000  or 
4,000  men)  and  artillery  in  the  fort  at  that  point. 
This  movement  of  General  Forrest  compelled  them  to 
return  to  their  fortifications,  which  soon  afterwards 
were  assailed  by  the  Confederate  infantry  and  artil 
lery  and  compelled  to  surrender.  T  rode  into  the  fort 
with  the  officers  who  received  the  capitulation.  The 
whole  of  Bragg' s  army  came  up  in  the  meantime, 
and  it  was  the  general  opinion  that  he  ought  to 
give  battle  to  General  Buell  at  that  place,  it  being 
in  his  direct  line  of  march  to  Louisville,  and  for 
many  other  reasons.  But  lie  thought  differently 


228       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

and  turned  aside  toward  Bardstown.  About  the 
25th  of  September  General  Forrest  was  ordered  to 
turn  his  brigade  over  to  Col.  John  A.  Wharton, 
his  senior  colonel,  of  the  Eighth  Texas,  and  proceed 
at  once  to  Murfreesboro  to  take  command  o*f  the 
troops  that  might  be  raised  in  Middle  Tennessee. 

A  summary  of  the  operations  and  casualties  o<f 
the  brigade  up  to  that  time  showed  that  its  killed 
and  wounded  amounted  to  200  men.  We  had  killed 
and  wounded  of  the  enemy  fully  350  and  captured 
over  2,000  prisoners  of  war,  including  one  brigadier 
general,  four  or  five  field  officers,  about  sixty  regi 
mental  officers,  four  pieces  of  artillery,  two  stands  of 
colors,  six  hundred  draft  animals,  and  a  large  wagon 
train. 

As  the  army  of  invasion  under  General  Bragg 
entered  Kentucky  in  the  month  of  September,  1862, 
it  soon  became  understood  that  Col.  (afterwards 
General)  Joseph  Wheeler  had  the  confidence  of  the 
general  commanding  in  a  very  eminent  degree,  and 
that  he  would  have  the  chief  direction  of  the  move 
ments  of  the  cavalry  arm  of  General  Bragg's  army 
in  Kentucky,  the  arm  of  service  with  which  I  was 
connected.  This  was  particularly  so  after  General 
(then  Colonel)  Forrest  returned  from  Bardstown, 
Ky.,  to  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.,  he  having  taken  leave 
of  his  brigade  at  Bardstown,  turning  it  over  to  Col. 
John  A.  Wharton,  who  was  afterwards  justly  pro 
moted  to  the  offices  of  brigadier  and  major  general. 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       229 

No  army  ever  marched  forward  with  higher  hopes 
of  success  and  more  eager  for  the  fray  than  did  the 
Army  of  Mississippi  move  into  Kentucky.  The 
forward  movement  from  the  swamps  of  Mississippi, 
to  which  General  Beauregard  had  retreated  from 
Corinth,  seemed  to  inspire  the  troops  with  new  life 
and  to  have  imparted  vigor  and  health  to  many  a 
wasting  form.  Many  a  pale-faced  and  emaciated 
boy  who  had  been  reared  in  the  lap  of  wealth  in  the 
blue-grass  regions  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  took 
heart  when  he  turned  his  face  homeward,  and  re 
solved  that  he  would  not  die  with  the  diseases  that 
were  so  prevalent  in  the  army  at  Tupelo  at  that 
time.  It  is  too  familiar  to  all  to  render  it  necessary 
to  mention  that  the  movement  into  Kentucky  was 
accomplished  by  flanking  General  Buell,  making  a 
detour  by  way  of  Chattanooga  and  Knoxville,  the 
right  wing  of  the  army,  under  Gen.  E.  K.  Smith, 
moving  by  way  of  the  latter  place,  and  the  remainder 
of  the  army,  under  the  immediate  command  of  Gen 
eral  Bragg,  by  way  of  Sparta,  Term.,  with  a  view  of 
striking  General  Buell's  communications  a  short 
distance  north  of  Nashville  and  of  pushing  as  far  as 
possible  on  that  line  toward  Louisville.  General 
Smith  moved  first.  He  made  a  most  brilliant  fight 
at  Richmond,  Ky.,  completely  routing  the  Federals 
under  General  Nelson  and  capturing  5,000  prisoners. 
He  moved  on  to  Lexington  and  pushed  on  to  Cov- 
ington,  opposite  Cincinnati.  The  first  that  I  saw  of 


230       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Colonel  Wheeler  on  that  campaign  was  near  Frank 
lin,  Ky.,  when  he  was  throwing  every  obstacle  to 
be  conceived  in  the  way  of  the  enemy's  march  to 
check  or  hinder  his  progress.  Every  bridge  on  the 
road,  however  small  or  insignificant,  was  destroyed, 
and  the  railroad  track  was  torn  up  all  along  the  way. 

The  main  army  of  General  Bragg  moved  up  the 
Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad  as  far  as  Eliza- 
bethtown,  and  there  turned  off  to  Bardstown,  to  the 
right.  Here  the  infantry  and  artillery  rested  and 
recruited  some  two  weeks,  while  the  cavalry,  under 
Colonels  Wheeler  and  Wharton,  pushed  on  as  far 
as  possible  on  all  roads  toward  Louisville.  I  went 
within  six  miles  of  the  city,  and  was  there  when,  in 
view  of  an  expected  attack  on  the  city,  so  great 
a  panic  prevailed  as  to  cause  a  majority  of  the 
women  and  children  to  be  sent  across  the  Ohio 
River.  When  the  main  army  left  Bardstown,  it 
moved  in  the  direction  of  Perryville,  and  there  it 
formed  a  junction  with  a  portion  of  the  forces  of 
General  Smith. 

While  the  army  rested  at  Bardstown  the  cav 
alry  pushed  as  far  forward  as  possible  toward  the 
enemy  on  all  roads  from  that  point,  and  skirmishes 
with  the  Federal  cavalry  were  almost  daily  occur 
rences.  General  Bragg  beat  no  hasty  retreat  from 
Bardstown,  but  left  leisurely  to  join  General  Smith, 
and  intended  then  to  give  battle  or  retire  from 
Kentucky  into  Tennessee  with  the  rich  spoils  accu- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       231 

initiated  in  this  "land  of  milk  and  honey."  As  the 
Federal  army  advanced  the  cavalry  gradually  fell 
back  until  we  were  within  a  few  miles  of  Bards- 
town.  As  a  matter  of  strategy  and  as  an  illustra 
tion  that  some  of  our  adversaries  relied  upon  tricks 
and  unfair  advantages  in  their  military  operations, 
I  will  add  that,  while  skirmishing  with  the  enemy 
on  the  Louisville  Pike,  a  flag  of  truce  party  appeared 
in  my  front,  and  I  immediately  ordered  all  firing  to 
cease.  As  I  understood  it,  the  rule  was  that  when 
either  side  sent  a  flag  of  truce  and  it  was  received 
it  operated  as  an  injunction  upon  all  further  move 
ments  of  the  army,  pending  the  flag  of  truce.  [ 
received  the  officer  with  courtesy,  and  he  presented 
an  official  communication  addressed  to  General 
Bragg,  sent  for  no  other  purpose,  in  my  judgment, 
than  to  ascertain  the  movements  of  the  army  and 
General  Bragg' s  whereabouts.  I  forwarded  the 
document  to  Colonel  \Vharton,  commanding  my 
brigade,  who  forwarded  it  to  General  Bragg.  The 
captain  in  command  of  the  flag  of  truce  party  said 
that  he  would  wait  for  an  answer,  and  did  wait 
probably  two  hours. 

During  the  time,  however,  T  discovered,  what  I 
at  first  suspected,  that  his  object  and  that  of  the  Fed 
eral  commanding  general  was  not  only  to  learn  the 
whereabouts  of  General  Bragg,  but  likewise  to  ad 
vance  their  whole  army  under  cover  of  this  flag.  T 
had  some  men  posted  at  some  haystacks  on  the  left, 


232       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

and  there  were  some  houses  near  by.  The  first  we 
discovered  of  their  treachery  was  that  their  skir 
mishers  suddenly  dashed  forward  to  these  houses, 
and  I  immediately  opened  fire  upon  them  to  prevent 
their  reaching  the  houses.  At  the  same  time  I 
placed  the  captain  and  his  cavalry  escort  under 
arrest  and  informed  the  officer  that  I  considered  the 
truce  violated,  and  that  they  were  my  prisoners  until 
further  orders.  They  readily  yielded  and  affected 
great  mortification  that  there  should  have  been  a 
change  in  the  position  of  their  army  pending  the 
flag  of  truce. 

After  some  explanations  from  a  General  Smith, 
who  commanded  the  Federal  brigade  in  my  imme 
diate  front,  and  who  came  down  in  person,  the 
flag  of  truce  party  was  released,  and  each  side  agreed 
to  retire  a  certain  distance.  My  orders  were  to  re 
tire  to  a  certain  point  which  would  be  the  outpost 
for  the  present,  and  T  was  not  to  skirmish  any  in 
retiring.  Notwithstanding  this  agreement,  I  was  to 
witness  the  crowning  act  of  perfidy  on  the  part  of 
the  enemy,  whose  cavalry  made  a  sudden  dash  in 
superior  force  on  my  left  and  captured  Lieutenant 
Scruggs  and  ten  men.  I  felt  the  loss  of  this  brave 
officer  and  his  trusty  men  keenly.  It  was  now  night 
and  very  dark,  and  nothing  further  could  be  done. 

On  the  next  morning  Colonel  Wharton  wrote  a 
very  strong  note  in  reference  to  this  perfidious  act, 
addressed  to  Major  General  Thomas,  commanding 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       233 

the  division  in  our  front.  Maj.  Tom  Harrison  and 
I  were  sent  with  an  escort  under  a  flag  of  truce  to 
a  stone  house,  probably  five  miles  from  Bardstown, 
and  there  delivered  the  communication.  We  were 
detained  there  at  least  two  hours,  at  the  expiration 
of  which  time  we  received  the  reply  of  General 
Thomas  that  he  would  consider  the  case  when  he 
got  into  camp,  and  this  was  the  last  of  the  captured 
party  for  some  months. 

We  kept  our  obligation  on  this  day,  as  on  the  day 
before.  The  Federals  violated  theirs,  as  on  the  day 
before,  and,  pending  this  flag  of  truce,  moved  their 
whole  army  forward ;  and  while  we  were  waiting 
for  a  reply  a  cavalry  brigade,  by  making  a  wide 
detour,  threw  themselves  between  Colonel  Whar- 
ton's  brigade  and  Bardstown,  and  their  infantry 
support  was  only  a  short  distance  behind.  We  had 
orders  from  Colonel  Wheeler  to  encamp  in  Bards 
town  that  night,  and  were  taking  it  leisurely  in 
marching  there  when  a  Texas  Ranger  who  had 
been  on  a  "bread  detail"  stumbled  upon  the  Feder 
als  between  us  and  Bardstown  and  gave  the  alarm. 
We  were  completely  "cut  off"  from  the  remainder 
of  the  army. 

No  time  was  to  be  lost,  and  but  one  course 
seemed  to  be  left  open  to  pursue,  and  that  was  to 
make  a  determined  dash  at  them  and  sweep  every 
obstacle  from  our  way.  Colonel  Wharton  did  not 
hesitate  to  take  this  course;  and,  putting  himself  at 


234       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

the  head  of  his  brigade,  he  ordered :  "Form  fours, 
and  charge!"  Soon  we  were  sweeping  down  the 
pike  like  an  avalanche,  and  presently  we  came  in 
sight  of  the  bluecoats  forming  in  a  long  line  cover 
ing  every  approach  to  the  town.  The  impetuosity 
of  that  charge,  however,  stimulated  by  that  wild 
yell  peculiar  to  the  Southerner,  was  not  to  be  resist 
ed;  and  after  delivering  one  or  two  volleys,  which 
did  not  check  our  boys,  their  whole  line  gave  way, 
and  they  fled  from  the  field  in  utter  confusion,  and 
their  officers  were  never  able  to  get  them  to  stand 
again,  although  the  infantry  was  almost  in  support 
ing  distance.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  hand 
somely  done,  and  it  was  accomplished  with  slight 
loss.  The  number  the  enemy  lost  in  killed,  wound 
ed,  and  prisoners  was  considerable.  I  cannot  state 
the  number.  Each  of  our  boys  seemed  to  have  felt 
it  to  be  a  duty  to  bring  away  a  prisoner  or  a  horse, 
and  I  saw  many  a  hatless  cavalryman  riding  behind 
the  Southern  boys  on  horses  that  they  had  lately 
claimed  as  their  own. 

Capt.  Mark  Evans,  of  the  Eighth  Texas  Regi 
ment,  was  as  brave  a  spirit  as  I  ever  knew.  I  shall 
never  forget  his  exploit  of  unhorsing  two  of  the 
enemy  in  almost  an  instant  and  the  pleasure  that 
he  seemed  to  derive  from  recounting  the  circum 
stance  to  me  that  night.  Poor  fellow !  he  was  des 
tined  to  fall  in  the  next  conflict  we  had,  which  was 
only  a  few  davs  later,  at  Perrvville. 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       235 

From  Bardstown  we  moved  on  toward  Perry- 
ville,  checking  the  enemy's  advance  as  much  as  pos 
sible.  At  Perryville  it  was  apparent  to  General 
Bragg  that  the  enemy  must  be  checked  in  order  to 
give  him  time  to  move  off  his  baggage  train  and 
stores,  as  well  as  those  of  General  Smith.  I  will  not 
attempt  a  description  of  that  bloody  encounter,  last 
ing  from  about  2  P.M.  until  8  P.M.  General  Bragg 
had  only  about  12,000  or  14,000  men  engaged, 
while  the  enemv  had  two  large  corps,  Gilbert's  and 
McCook's.  The  country  is  beautifully  undulating, 
and  chain  after  chain  of  hills  meet  the  eye,  remind 
ing  one  of  the  waves  of  the  ocean.  As  the  Southern 
forces  advanced  the  Federal  troops  receded.  The 
enemy  was  forced  back  at  least  two  miles.  It  was 
deemed  by  General  Bragg  that  the  enemy's  advance 
had  been  sufficiently  checked,  and  he  commenced  his 
famous  retreat  from  Kentucky. 

It  was  in  this  retreat  that  Colonel  Wheeler,  who 
had  chief  command  of  the  cavalry,  particularly  dis 
tinguished  himself.  So  untiring  and  sleepless  was 
Wheelers  vigilance  that  General  Bragg  moved  leis 
urely  out  of  the  State  with  his  trains  intact  and 
without  the  infantry  being  called  upon.  The  battle 
of  Perryville  was  fought  on  the  8th  of  October, 
1862;  and  the  pursuit  was  kept  up  as  far  as  Lon 
don,  in  Eastern  Kentucky,  which  our  rear  reached 
about  the  last  day  of  October.  It  was  on  this  re 
treat  that  I  became  well  acquainted  with  Colonel 


236       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Wheeler  and  found  him  to  be  a  thorough  soldier. 
As  gentle  as  a  woman  and  as  chivalrous  as  a  cava 
lier  of  the  olden  time,  he  possessed  the  finest  cour 
age,  and  could  generally  be  found  with  the  rear 
guard  as  the  enemy  advanced,  personally  seeing 
that  nothing  was  omitted  necessary  to  check  the 
enemy's  advance.  His  habits  were  strictly  temper 
ate,  and  he  usually  lay  down  to  sleep  at  night  with 
his  men  in  bivouac. 

At  London  Colonel  Wheeler  ordered  me  to  take 
the  troops  that  I  was  then  in  command  of  as  major 
and  proceed  on  the  road  which  passed  through  the 
Cumberland  Mountains  at  Big  Creek  Gap,  to  cover 
the  right  flank  of  the  army  and  protect  it  from  as 
sault  as  the  main  body  passed  through  Cumberland 
Gap.  I  was  further  ordered  to  take  command  of  all 
stragglers  whom  I  found  on  the  road.  After  pro 
ceeding  some  distance,  I  was  informed  by  scouts  that 
had  been  thrown  forward  that  a  company  of  from 
one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  bushwhackers 
had  assembled  in  Wiliiamsburg,  a  village  of  a  few 
hundred  inhabitants  situated  on  the  Cumberland 
River  near  its  source,  to  resist  our  passing  and  to 
pick  up  stragglers.  The  column  was  immediately 
put  in  motion,  and  we  went  at  a  trot  until  we  came 
to  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  Firing  was  com 
menced  both  on  our  front  and  flank ;  but  it  was  soon 
over,  for  we  charged  them,  and  they  broke  and  ran. 
About  five  of  the  bushwhackers  (or  home  guards, 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       237 

as  they  styled  themselves)  were  killed  and  many 
wounded. 

I  shall  never  forget  an  incident  that  occurred 
there.  As  we  charged  into  the  town  the  bush 
whackers  ran  in  every  direction.  Tom  Gann,  of 
Company  C  of  my  Regiment  (which  was  formed 
afterwards),  had  pursued  one  of  them  beyond  the 
town,  when  the  fellow  turned  and  fired  upon  him, 
killing  his  horse.  Gann  fired  at  the  same  time,  but 
missed  his  aim.  Neither  of  them  having  another 
load  in  reserve,  the  alternative  was  presented  of 
4 'fighting  it  out  on  some  other  line."  Gann  at  once 
seized  a  round  stone  and  hurled  it  against  the  head 
of  his  adversary  with  such  force  as  to  break  his 
skull,  and  he  was  left  for  dead. 

On  this  route  we  were  attacked  as  often  as  four 
or  five  times  by  bushwhackers.  One  clay  we  were 
marching  along  quietly  in  column,  not  expecting  an 
attack.  The  advance  guard  had  passed,  when  sud 
denly  a  volley  poured  forth  from  the  summit  of 
a  hill  or  mountain  into  the  head  of  the  column, 
wounding  the  man  on  my  right  and  the  horse  on 
my  left.  We  soon  dispersed  them,  but  it  was  a  very 
annoying  sort  of  warfare  —  that  of  the  assassin 
shooting  you  in  the  back  and  running  off. 

After  passing  through  the  Gap,  I  reported  to 
Colonel  Wheeler,  and  I  received  from  him  an  order 
to  proceed  to  Knoxville.  Reaching  Knoxville  about 
the  27th  of  October,  it  was  understood  that  the 


238       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

army  was  moving  to  Murfreesboro,  Term.,  as  fast 
as  the  transportation  permitted,  and  that  the  cav 
alry  would  move  on  leisurely  to  that  point.  At 
Murfreesboro  Colonels  Wheeler  and  Wharton  each 
received  their  commissions  as  brigadier  generals. 
These  promotions  were  very  well  deserved,  for  each 
had  won  his  spurs  in  that  campaign. 

In  the  early  days  of  November,  1862,  after  the 
army  had  returned  to  Middle  Tennessee,  General 
Wharton  moved  out  to  the  front  and  established  his 
headquarters  at  Nolensville,  a  village  in  Williamson 
County,  situated  about  sixteen  miles  from  Nash 
ville  on  one  of  the  main  roads  leading  out  of  the 
city.  The  Federal  army  then  occupied  Nashville 
with  a  large  force  under  the  command  of  Major 
General  Rosecrans,  who  had  superseded  General 
Buell  in  Kentucky  after  the  latter  had  given  up  the 
pursuit  of  General  Bragg  toward  Cumberland  Gap. 
General  Rosecrans  had  turned  and  pressed  his  forces 
forward  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  Nashville.  He 
was  already  in  strong  force  there  when  General 
Bragg  reached  Murfreesboro.  Upon  the  arrival  of 
General  Bragg  at  Murfreesboro,  he  at  once  set 
about  reorganizing  and  recruiting  his  army.  In 
November,  1862,  I  was  notified  through  General 
Wharton  of  the  organization  of  my  Regiment  and 
that  I  had  been  commissioned  colonel  of  it  by  the 
War  Department  at  Richmond. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
MEMBERS  OF  THE  REGIMENT  Now  LIVING. 

THE  following  is  a  list  of  members  now  living 
(from  latest  information)  who  either  surrendered 
with  the  Regiment  or  were  honorably  discharged 
therefrom  for  disability  incurred  during  the  war : 

FIELD  AND  STAFF. 

Col.  Baxter  Smith,  Chattanooga,  Tenn.:  Adjt.  George  B. 
Guild,  Nashville,  Tenn.;  Sergt.  Maj.  W.  A.  Rushing,  Lebanon, 
Tenn.;  Surgeon  W.  T.  Delaney,  Bristol,  Va. ;  Assistant  Sur 
geon  J.  T.  Allen,  Caney  Springs,  Tenn. ;  Acting  Quartermaster 
R.  O.  McLean,  Nashville,  Tenn.;  Acting  Assistant  Quarter 
master  Bob  Corder,  Williamson  County,  Tenn. ;  Acting  Com 
missary  First  Lieut.  J.  T.  Barbee,  Sardis,  Ky. 

COMPANY  A. 

Dr.  Tom  Allen,  Caney  Springs,  Tenn. ;  Joe  Yarbrough, 
Lewisburg,  Tenn. ;  James  Tippett,  Greenville,  Tex. ;  Thomas 
Sherron,  Chapel  Hill,  Tenn. ;  William  Edwards,  Chapel 
Hill,  Tenn. ;  Scott  Davis,  Lewisburg,  Tenn. ;  Joe  Yarbrough 
(second),  Lewisburg,  Tenn.;  W.  R.  Wynn,  Lewisburg,  Tenn.; 
Polk  Warner,  Lewisburg,  Tenn. ;  Ben  Jobe,  Paris,  Tenn. ; 
Jim  Wilbern,  Oklahoma;  Melville  Porter,  McKenzie,  Tenn.; 
William  ("Dutch")  Alexander,  Chattanooga,  Tenn.;  Gid  Alex 
ander,  New  Orleans,  La. 

COMPANY  B. 

Lieut.  G.  W.  Carmack,  Jonesboro,  Tenn. ;  Henry  Delaney, 
Bristol,  Va. ;  Abe  McClelland,  Bluff  City,  Tenn. ;  W.  C.  Ingles, 
Knoxville,  Tenn. ;  Dr.  W.  T.  Delanev,  Bristol,  Va. 


240       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

COMPANY  C. 

Lieut.  R.  L.  Scruggs,  Stonewall,  Tenn. ;  Lieut.  Samuel 
Scoggins,  Nashville,  Tenn.;  Pat  Moss,  Smith  County,  Tenn.; 
Ike  Evans,  Smith  County,  Tenn. ;  Dave  Shipp,  Smith  County, 
Tenn.;  William  Bell,  Big  Spring,  Tenn.;  Sam  Flippin,  Bir 
mingham,  Ala.;  Don  Flippin,  Smith  County,  Tenn.;  Thomas 
Sanders,  Nashville,  Tenn.;  Bob  Grissim,  Smith  County,  Tenn. 

COMPANY  D. 

First  Lieut.  Robert  Bone,  Texas;  Second  Lieut.  J.  T. 
Barbee,  Sardis,  Ky. ;  Third  Lieut.  J.  A.  Arnold,  Lebanon, 
Tenn. 

I  feel  that  I  ought  to  add  here  that  Lieutenant 
Bone  was  one  of  the  best  and  most  active  officers 
we  had.  He  was  always  to  be  found  in  the  fore 
front  of  the  battle,  and  was  wounded  several  times. 
In  one  of  the  last  battles  we  had  he  was  captured 
by  the  enemy;  and  while  he  was  being  carried  to 
Johnson's  Island  with  other  prisoners  he  leaped  from 
the  train,  making  his  escape  into  Canada,  and  was 
fortunate  enough  to  get  transportation  upon  a 
blockade  runner  coming  into  Charleston,  S.  C.,  re 
porting  back  to  his  regiment  in  four  weeks  after 
being  captured.  I  am  not  positive  that  he  is  living 
to-day,  but  he  was  living  in  Texas  when  last  heard 
from,  more  than  a  year  ago. 

COMPANY  E. 

First  Lieut.  H.  L.  Preston,  Woodbury,  Tenn. ;  Third  Lieut 
John  Fathera,  Woodbury,  Tenn. ;  N.  Bony  Preston,  Woodbury, 
Tenn.;  Thomas  Vinson,  Henry  Gillam,  William  Wood,  War 
ren  Cummings,  Al  Kennedy,  William  Davis,  N.  A.  Mitchell, 
I.  Y.  Davis,  Eph  Neely,  R.  S.  Spindle,  W.  D.  Coleman,  John 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       241 

Knox,  John    H.   Wharton,   B.   F.   Pinkerton,   I.   W.   Stewart, 
Reese  Hammons,  John  Hayes. 

COMPANY  F. 

Lieutenant  Williamson,  Kentucky;  W.  H.  Davis,  Dallas, 
Tex.;  J.  H.  Davis,  Martha,  Tenn. ;  Zack  Thompson,  Shelby- 
ville,  Tenn. 

COMPANY  G. 

Capt.  J.  W.  Nichol,  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.;  Lieut.  F.  A. 
McKnight,  Sergt.  W.  R.  Fowler,  Corp.  I.  C.  Carnahan,  L.  M. 
Roberts,  D.  D.  Murray,  S.  M.  McGill,  W.  P.  Gaither,  L.  L. 
Gaither,  T.  A.  Gaither,  S.  M.  McKnight,  Robert  Patrick,  A. 
C.  Good,  I.  F.  Good,  I.  E.  Neely,  N.  I.  Ivie,  W.  H.  Taylor, 
John  Nugent,  Houston  Miller,  L.  W.  Jarnigan,  A.  H.  Youree, 
I.  C.  Coleman,  W.  W.  Gray,  B.  L.  Sagely,  E.  Bynum,  E.  H. 
Murrey,  H.  N.  Jones,  C.  W.  Moore,  Calvin  Brewer,  James 
Love,  Bob  Knox. 

Capt.  J.  W.  Nichol,  of  Company  G,  says  that  of 
those  living  at  this  time,  sixteen  of  them  were  young 
men  on  their  way  to  join  his  company  when  the 
surrender  occurred.  The  following  are  the  circum 
stances  in  the  case :  Some  weeks  before  the  surren 
der,  in  1865,  he  had  sent  his  first  lieutenant,  Dave 
Youree,  a  most  excellent  and  reliable  officer,  to 
Cannon  and  Rutherford  Counties,  Tenn.,  to  obtain 
recruits.  Just  before  the  surrender  Youree  was 
returning  to  the  command  with  the  sixteen  young 
men  who  had  enlisted  in  said  counties  and  whom  he 
had  sworn  into  the  company  and  Regiment.  Upon 
reaching  the  State  of  Georgia  on  their  way  to  join 
the  Regiment,  then  in  North  Carolina,  they  met  Gen 
eral  Forrest  and  his  command  and  were  informed 
16 


242       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

of  the  condition  of  the  Confederate  army.  At  Gen 
eral  Forrest's  suggestion,  they  remained  with  him, 
participated  in  his  engagements  around  Selma,  Ala., 
and  surrendered  with  General  Forrest's  command, 
receiving  their  paroles  at  Gainesville,  Ala,,  in  May, 
1865,  as  members  of  Company  G,  Fourth  Tennes 
see  Regiment.  The  sixteen  young  men  are  certainly 
entitled  to  be  named  in  the  list  of  living  in  Company 
G  at  this  time,  for  they  gave  the  best  evidence  of 
their  manhood  and  patriotism  by  leaving  voluntarily 
their  homes  behind  the  lines  under  the  forlorn  and 
desperate  circumstances  surrounding  them  and  the 
Confederate  army. 

COMPANY  H. 

J.  C.  Ivey,  Clear  Lake,  Tex.;  Sam  H.  Bennett,  Jasper, 
Tenn. ;  John  Davis,  Jasper,  Tenn. ;  William  T.  Warren,  Day 
ton,  Tenn.;  Zebulon  Ballew,  Sequatchie  Valley,  Tenn.;  Billy 
Phelps,  Sequatchie  Valley,  Tenn.;  Robert  Phelps,  Sequatchie 
Valley,  Tenn. 

I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  J.  C.  Ivey,  of 
Company  H,  giving  me  the  foregoing  list  of  his 
company.  I  want  to  thank  him  again  for  the  inter 
est  and  assistance  he  has  given  me  in  preparing  the 
facts  for  this  narrative  of  the  Regiment,  and  I  feel 
that  I  ought  to  make  his  letter  a  part  of  the  narra 
tive.  The  letter  is  as  follows : 

CLEAR  LAKE,  TEX.,  October  16,  1912. 

Maj.  George  B.  Guild,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

My  Dear  Adjutant  and  Comrade:  Your  letter  came  in  due 
time,  and  this  is  the  first  opportunity  I  have  had  to  answer 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       243 

your  question  in  regard  to  those  still  living  of  Company  H. 
There  were  thirty-four  who  were  surrendered  at  Charlotte, 
N.  C.  I  shall  never  forget  that  sorrowful  day  when  we  gave 
up  our  guns.  That  morning  our  beloved  General  Wheeler 
came  to  our  Regiment  and  announced  that  we  were  a  subju 
gated  people  and,  while  the  tears  were  flowing  from  his  eyes, 
advised  us  to  return  home  and  make  as  good  citizens  as  we 
had  soldiers  and  all  would  come  out  right.  So  far  as  I  know, 
not  one  of  those  that  were  with  us  in  the  closing  of  this  sad 
drama  ever  went  wrong  in  any  way.  As  for  those  that  ab 
sented  themselves,  I  have  had  no  communication  with  any  of 
them. 

I  remain  your  old  comrade,  J.  C.  IVEY. 

COMPANY  I. 

Lieut.  John  W.  Storey,  Forest  City,  Ark.;  B.  P.  Harrison, 
Albany,  Ky. ;  Joel  Brown,  Glasgow,  Ky. ;  Z.  T.  Crouch,  Bell- 
buckle,  Tenn. ;  Dr.  Henry  Sienknecht,  Oliver  Springs,  Tenn. ; 
John  Hall,  Tennessee;  Isaac  Ford,  Rome,  Tenn.;  Orville 
I.  Moate,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Lieut.  William  H.  Hildreth, 
Alvarado,  Tex. ;  John  N.  Simpson,  Dallas,  Tex. ;  William 
Wallace,  Texas;  Jeff  Boles,  Phoenix,  Ariz.;  Henry  Gate- 
wood,  Ennis,  Tex. 

COMPANY  K. 

Frank  Anderson,  Nashville,  Tenn. ;  Joe  Miller,  Lebanon, 
Tenn. ;  Hal  Shutt,  Lebanon,  Tenn. ;  Bryant  Goodrich,  Nash 
ville,  Tenn. ;  James  Thomas,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

I  cannot  hear  of  a  single  one  of  Company  L  who 
is  alive  to-day. 

Some  of  the  foregoing  were  young  men  just  ar 
riving  at  maturity  and  came  out  to  the  Regiment 
from  Tennessee  (then  occupied  by  Federal  forces) 
at  the  peril  of  their  lives  and  joined  it  when  the 
cause  was  a  forlorn  hope  indeed.  Of  this  class 


244       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Capt.  Frank  A.  Moses,  the  Special  Examiner  on 
the  State  Confederate  Pension  Board,  had  occasion 
to  say  in  his  annual  report  to  the  Confederate  As 
sociation  of  Bivouacs  and  Camps  at  Shelby ville  re 
cently  : 

Comrades,  it  was  easy  for  you  and  me  to  go  out  in  1861 
or  1862,  when  the  bright  flags  rippled  in  the  breezes,  the  bands 
played  ''Dixie,"  and  the  girls  waved  their  handkerchiefs,  bid 
ding  us  Godspeed ;  but  when  the  dark  days  came  and  the  flags 
were  tattered  and  blood-stained,  when  the  bands  were  playing 
the  "Dead  March"  and  the  noble  women  mourned  the  death 
of  loved  ones,  it  was  not  so  easy.  When  the  old  men  and  the 
boys  in  1864  picked  up  the  guns  that  had  been  thrown  down 
by  the  quitters  and  stepped  into  our  depleted  ranks,  they 
showed  their  faith  by  their  works,  and  they  are  entitled  to  all 
honor. 

I  take  occasion  to  add  that  I  have  been  intimately 
associated  with  Captain  Moses  on  the  Pension  Board 
for  twenty  years.  He  is  most  efficient  in  the  position 
he  occupies.  He  joined  the  Confederate  army  when 
but  a  boy.  After  engaging  in  the  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga,  his  regiment  (the  Sixty-Second  Tennessee 
Infantry)  was  sent  with  Gen.  Bushrod  Johnson's 
brigade  to  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  He  was 
severely  wounded  at  the  battle  oi  Drewry's  Bluff,  on 
the  James  River,  below  Richmond;  and  after  con 
valescing  from  his  wound  he  reported  to  his  com 
mand  at  Petersburg,  and  surrendered  with  General 
Lee  at  Appomattox  on  the  9th  of  April,  1865. 

First  Lieut.   Rice  McLean,  of  Company  A,  an 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       245 

elegant  gentleman  and  brave  officer,  was  in  com 
mand  of  his  company  most  of  the  time,  especially 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  war.  His  captain,  Dave 
Alexander,  was  the  oldest  man  in  the  Regiment  and 
was  much  disabled  by  wounds.  Lieutenant  McLean 
was  frequently  called  upon  to  perform  the  most 
hazardous  and  important  duties,  which  he  did  with 
dispatch  and  to  the  highest  satisfaction  of  the  com 
manding  officer.  None  stood  higher  in  the  Regi 
ment  or  was  more  respected  for  his  fidelity  as  a 
soldier.  He  was  most  amiable  in  character  and  in 
kindly  comradeship  toward  his  fellow  soldiers.  He 
was  wounded  several  times  in  battle.  He  died  a 
few  years  ago  in  Kentucky,  where  he  had  lived 
since  the  close  of  the  war.  I  could  not  resist  the 
opportunity  of  saying  a  word  regarding  my  warm 
personal  friend,  Rice  McLean.  He  was  a  brother 
of  the  wife  of  Capt.  Tom  Hardison,  one  of  Nash 
ville's  most  worthy  and  honorable  citizens. 

Lieut.  J.  W.  Storey,  who  was  in  command  of 
Company  I  at  the  surrender,  writes  me  that  I  should 
speak  of  the  killing  of  Eb  Crozier,  of  his  company, 
who  was  a  most  intelligent,  lovable  man,  and  a 
brave  soldier  during  the  entire  war.  He  received 
his  parole  of  honor  with  the  rest  of  the  Regiment 
at  Charlotte,  N.  C,  May  3,  1865,  and  started  home 
with  us;  but  before  reaching  Sweetwater,  Tenn.,  he 
took  the  road  to  the  right  to  go  to  his  home  in 
Upper  East  Tennessee,  which  he  had  not  visited  for 


246       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

years.  Upon  reaching  home,  he  was  brutally  mur 
dered  by  a  band  of  Union  bushwhackers,  with  his 
parole  of  honor  in  his  pocket,  the  ink  with  which 
it  was  written  being  hardly  dry  upon  the  paper.  A 
more  dastardly  act  was  never  perpetrated.  His 
name  has  been  placed  among  the  killed  in  battle  of 
his  company,  and  I  am  sure  that  the  reader  will  say 
that  it  rightfully  belongs  there,  together  with  any 
other  honor  that  could  be  attached  to  his  memory. 

Capt.  James  H.  Britton,  of  Company  K,  was  a 
native  of  Lebanon,  Tenn.,  and  was  educated  at 
Cumberland  University,  where  he  graduated  with 
highest  honors  as  a  civil  engineer.  He  was  first 
lieutenant  of  the  "Cedar  Snags,"  of  which  Paul  F. 
Anderson  was  captain.  When  the  Fourth  Tennes 
see  Cavalry  Regiment  was  organized,  the  company 
became  a  part  of  it.  Captain  Anderson  became 
lieutenant  colonel  and  Lieutenant  Britton  was  made 
captain  of  Company  K,  both  continuing  as  such 
until  the  surrender  of  the  army,  in  1865,  at  Greens 
boro,  N.  C.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  war 
Company  K  was  the  escort  of  the  commanding  gen 
eral.  Captain  Britton  was  a  faithful,  brave,  and 
intelligent  officer.  He  and  his  company  were  well 
known  to  the  Army  of  Tennessee  by  the  important 
duties  that  they  were  called  upon  to  do  in  carrying 
orders  to  different  parts  of  the  field,  frequently 
where  the  battle  raged  fiercest  and  hottest.  The 
company's  killed  and  wounded  was  heavy,  as  will 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       247 

be  seen  on  pages  165  and  166.  Soon  after  the  war 
Captain  Britton  moved  to  Texas,  where  he  was 
successful  as  a  business  man  and  accumulated  quite 
a  fortune.  He  died  there  many  years  ago,  a  public- 
spirited,  most  worthy  citizen.  Dr.  R.  L.  C.  White 
and  Wat  Weakley,  who  were  well-known  citizens  of 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  were  soldiers  in  this  company, 
having  joined  it  when  it  was  first  organized,  and 
served  throughout  the  war. 

I  have  received  from  a  friend  the  following  rec 
ord  of  Capt.  J.  W.  Nichol  prior  to  his  company's 
being  attached  to  the  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry 
Regiment,  which  I  take  pleasure  in  making  a  part 
of  this  narrative: 

Capt.  J.  W.  Nichol  was  born  and  reared  near  Readyville, 
Rutherford  County,  Tenn.,  February  26,  1839.  He  entered 
the  Confederate  service  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.,  May  21,  1861, 
as  a  lieutenant  in  Captain  Wood's  Company  H,  Joe  B.  Pal 
mer's  Eighteenth  Tennessee  Regiment,  serving  in  same  until 
a  few  days  before  the  first  battle  at  Fort  Donelson,  February, 
1862.  On  a  march  from  Bowling  Green,  Ky.,  we  left  him,  sick 
of  measles,  at  Russellville,  Ky. ;  therefore  he  was  not  in  the 
fight  at  Fort  Donelson,  where  the  Eighteenth  Tennessee 
Regiment  was  captured  and  sent  to  prison.  He  was  sent  back 
with  the  sick  to  Bowling  Green,  thence  to  Nashville  and 
Murfreesboro.  At  Murfreesboro  he  reported  to  Gen.  A.  S. 
Johnston,  who  directed  him  to  get  together  all  the  members 
of  the  Eighteenth  Tennessee  Regiment  who  might  be  at 
home  on  sick  furlough,  also  any  who  might  have  made  their 
escape  from  prison,  organizing  them  into  a  company  or  bat 
talion,  and  connect  the  same  with  some  other  regiment.  But 
before  Captain  Nichol  could  do  this  General  Johnston,  with 
his  army,  moved  to  Shelbyville,  where  Nichol  reported  to  him 


248       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

again,  informing  him  that  he  had  met  a  number  of  the  com 
mand  who  desired  to  join  other  regiments  instead  of  forming 
a  new  command.  General  Johnston  directed  him  to  assign 
these  men  to  any  desired  company  until  the  Eighteenth  should 
be  exchanged.  Nichol  then,  with  nine  others  of  the  Eighteenth 
Tennessee,  procured  horses  and  fell  back  with  General  John 
ston  to  Corinth,  Miss.,  where  they  attached  themselves  to 
General  Buckner's  old  escort,  a  Kentucky  company  command 
ed  by  Captain  Kerr,  who  had  made  their  escape  from  Fort 
Donelson  and  were  serving  as  an  escort  for  General  Hardee. 
Nichol  served  as  a  private  soldier  with  this  company  until 
after  the  battle  of  Corinth,  April  6,  7,  1862.  Some  time  after 
this  battle  he  went  to  General  Beauregard's  headquarters  (Gen 
eral  Johnston  having  been  killed  in  the  engagement  on  April 
6),  and  asked  permission  to  go  into  Middle  Tennessee  and 
make  up  a  cavalry  company,  which  request  was  granted.  With 
considerable  difficulty  he  made  his  way  to  the  neighborhood  of 
his  old  home,  there  being  Federal  troops,  stationed  at  Mur- 
freesboro,  who  were  scouting  the  surrounding  country  fre 
quently.  On  one  occasion  Captain  Unthanks,  with  a  Yankee 
company  of  seventy-two  men,  came  out  from  Murfreesboro 
to  Readyville  (Captain  Nichol's  old  home),  and  went  on  to 
Woodbury  and  McMinnville  on  a  scouting  expedition.  Colo 
nel  Starnes,  commanding  the  Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry,  was 
near  McMinnville  and,  upon  learning  of  the  scouting  party 
headed  by  Captain  Unthanks,  moved  into  McMinnville  in  a 
few  hours,  and  made  inquiry  for  a  man  fully  acquainted  with 
the  roads  leading  therefrom.  Captain  Nichol,  who  was  just  in 
from  Corinth,  Miss.,  reported  to  Colonel  Starnes  that  he  was 
conversant  with  all  the  roads  leading  to  Murfreesboro.  Leav 
ing  McMinnville  late  in  the  afternoon,  Colonel  Starnes  and 
his  men  reached  Woodbury  about  daylight  of  the  next  day, 
finding  that  Captain  Unthanks  had  stopped  there  to  feed  his 
horses  and  had  just  left.  Instantly  pursuing,  Starnes  caught 
them  at  Readyville  (Nichol's  old  home),  eating  breakfast, 
Captain  Unthanks  and  most  of  his  men  being  at  Major  Tal- 
lay's  (the  old  Ready  residence).  Starnes  was  upon  them  be- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       249 

fore  they  were  aware,  killing  three  and  capturing  all  except 
two  others,  who  made  their  escape  to  Murfreesboro.  Captain 
Nichol  was  then  engaged  in  making  up  his  company.  Gen. 
Bedford  Forrest  passed  through  Readyville  July  13,  1862;  and 
Nichol,  with  a  few  unorganized  men,  fell  in  line  and  pro 
ceeded  to  Murfreesboro,  where  they  participated  in  the  first 
fight  at  Murfreesboro,  in  which  they  were  victorious,  taking 
all  the  prisoners  to  McMinnville  to  parole  them.  From  there 
Nichol  proceeded  to  Readyville,  where  he  made  up  his1  com 
pany.  About  this  time,  learning  of  the  approach  of  General 
Bragg  toward  Middle  Tennessee,  he,  with  about  seventy 
unarmed  young  boys  and  men,  riding  all  night,  passing 
through  Liberty,  the  home  of  Stokes  and  Blackburn  (Yankee 
bushwhackers),  got  safely  through  to  Sparta  just  in  time 
to  meet  Bragg  on  his  march  into  Kentucky.  General  Polk 
took  Nichol's  company  for  a  time  as  couriers.  Soon  after 
wards  they  were  ordered  to  report  to  Maj.  J.  R.  Davis, 
commanding  a  battalion  of  cavalry,  and  were  in  the  fight  at 
Perryville,  Ky.,  fighting  every  day  until  they  reached  Cumber 
land  Gap,  losing  several  men.  Thence  they  went  to  Murfrees 
boro,  in  which  battle  they  were  in  Davis's  Battalion.  Shortly 
after  this  Smith's  Fourth  Tennessee  Regiment  was  formed, 
composed  of  Smith's  Battalion  and  Davis's  Battalion.  Imme 
diately  after  this  formation  Wheeler  and  Forrest  were  or 
dered  to  Fort  Donelson,  where  Nichol  received  his  first 
serious  wound.  He  was  in  all  other  engagements  until  the 
close  of  the  war,  being  dangerously  wounded  at  Bentonville, 
N.  C,  the  last  general  engagement  of  the  war.  He  surren 
dered  at  Greensboro,  N.  C.,  with  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston's 
army,  and  was  paroled  at  Charlotte,  N.  C.,  April  26,  1865. 

When  Colonel  Smith  returned,  on  exchange,  from 
Johnson's  Island  Prison,  just  before  the  battle  of 
Averyboro,  N.  C.,  he  at  once  assumed  command  of 
the  brigade  as  senior  colonel.  Adjt.  George  B. 
Guild  became  his  adjutant  general,  and  Capt.  J.  R. 


250       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

Lester,  of  Company  F,  became  his  inspector  general, 
all  of  them  serving  in  this  capacity  till  the  surren 
der  of  the  army  at  Greensboro,  N.  C,  April  26, 
1865.  The  coming  of  Colonel  Smith  created  a 
scene  of  rejoicing  with  the  Regiment,  as  it  had 
created  one  of  pronounced  sorrow  when  he  had  been 
captured.  The  men  pressed  around  him  to  show 
him  the  joy  and  pleasure  it  afforded.  He  was  called 
upon  to  make  a  talk,  when  he  expressed  to  them 
the  pleasure  it  gave  him  to  be  with  them  again  after 
his  long,  weary,  and  dark  night  as  a  prisoner  in  a 
Northern  fortress.  He  said  the  saddest  part  of  it 
was  that  he  missed  many  familiar  faces  who  were 
camping  to-day  on  Fame's  battle  ground,  and  but  a 
remnant  remained  of  what  they  had  been;  that  he 
had  learned  from  time  to  time,  as  other  prisoners 
came  in,  of  the  glorious  record  they  were  making 
and  had  made  as  soldiers.  He  expressed  his  pride 
in  them,  and  said  that  their  names  would  be  re 
membered  by  grateful  countrymen.  Choking  for 
utterance  and  in  tears,  he  sat  down.  A  few  min 
utes  after  this  the  order  was  given  to  mount,  and 
the  brigade  marched  away  to  take  part  in  the  bat 
tle  of  Averyboro,  N.  C.  A  very  interesting  in 
cident  occurred  before  the  foregoing  took  place. 
The  Regiment  had  learned  that  his  name  had  been 
registered  for  exchange  and  were  expecting  him. 
At  the  battle  of  Fayetteville,  N.  C.,  a  few  weeks 
before,  Lieutenant  Massengale  had  been  killed,  and 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       251 

his  horse,  which  was  a  most  excellent  one,  a  rich 
bay,  evidencing  the  qualities  of  a  thoroughbred, 
was  in  the  hands  of  a  relative.  It  was  proposed 
to  purchase  the  horse  for  Colonel  Smith  when  he 
reported,  which  was  done.  The  men  paid  the  rela 
tive  $2,600  for  the  horse,  which  was  christened 
"Lieut.  Joe  Massengale"  in  memory  of  his  gallant 
rider  who  was  killed  upon  his  back  while  leading 
a  charge  in  the  fight  with  Kilpatrick's  forces.  Colo 
nel  Smith  rode  this  horse  in  the  battles  that  occurred 
afterwards  and  until  the  surrender.  He  brought 
"Joe  Massengale"  home  with  him.  After  this  the 
horse  was  conspicuous  as  a  part  of  all  the  reunions 
that  took  place,  and  was  named  the  regimental 
mascot,  by  which  name  he  was  called  until  he  died, 
in  his  twenty-sixth  year. 

It  has  been  assumed  that  the  loss  of  life  charge 
able  to  the  War  between  the  States  was  over  one 
million  individuals.  The  number  of  great  battles 
fought  and  the  deadliness  of  the  conflict  are  without 
a  parallel  in  all  modern  history.  In  the  Dark  Ages 
of  the  world  it  frequently  transpired  that  the  victors 
assumed  the  divine  right  to  massacre  the  defeated 
with  fire  and  sword.  We  had  a  reminder  of  what 
that  meant  in  the  march  to  the  sea  and  in  the  raids 
through  the  valleys  of  Virginia  with  a  well-defined 
smell  of  fire  and  destruction  about  them.  Truly  it 
has  been  said  that  every  messenger  from  the  front 


252       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

told  of  the  wreck  of  a  living  hope,  and  every  home 
of  both  the  North  and  South  was  made  a  house  of 
mourning.  But  my  object  in  giving  the  following 
incident  is  particularly  to  refute  what  has  sometimes 
been  unjustly  said  about  the  Confederate  army  as 
a  band  of  slaveholders. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  war  there  lived  in  an 
adjoining*  county  a  young  farmer  who  was  a  sub 
stantial,  intelligent,  and  industrious  citizen.  By 
his  energy  he  had  accumulated  means  to  buy  a 
small  hilly  farm  and  erected  upon  it  a  plain  but 
neat  cottage,  where  he  and  his  young  wife  lived. 
He  had  no  farm  help  but  a  younger  brother.  In 
the  fall  of  1 86 1  he  and  his  brother  enlisted  in  the 
Confederate  army.  His  aged  father  and  mother 
came  to  live  with  the  wife,  and  in  a  short  time  the 
Tennessee  regiment  to  which  he  and  his  brother 
were  attached  was  ordered  to  the  Army  of  North 
ern  Virginia.  The  younger  brother  was  killed  the 
day  Gen.  Bob  Hatton  fell  at  Seven  Pines,  near 
Richmond,  Va.,  in  1862.  The  old  mother  died  in 
a  short  time  after  hearing  of  the  death  of  her  baby 
boy,  as  she  affectionately  called  him.  In  1863  the 
older  brother  was  desperately  wounded  at  Gettys 
burg  in  the  charge  of  Archer's  Tennessee  Brigade 
on  Cemetery  Hill  and  taken  a  prisoner  by  the  ene 
my.  He  was  reported  killed  in  action  by  his  com 
rades,  and  was  so  reported  on  the  rolls  of  his  com 
pany  during  the  remainder  of  the  war.  In  fact,  his 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       253 

leg  had  been  shattered  by  a  cannon  ball,  and  it  was 
hastily  amputated  above  the  knee  when  he  was  sent 
to  Rock  Island  Prison.  The  shock  from  the  wound, 
exposure,  and  want  of  attention  impaired  his  health, 
making  him  a  patient  of  the  prison  hospital  until 
the  war  ended.  His  wife,  on  learning  of  his  death, 
sickened  and  died  of  a  broken  heart,  it  is  said.  The 
old  father,  having  been  left  alone,  went  off  to  Ken 
tucky  to  live  with  a  married  daughter.  Marauding 
parties  burned  and  destroyed  the  fences  around  the 
little  farm,  and  the  house  was  ruined  and  broken 
down.  Nothing  was  left  to  remind  one  O'f  the  happy 
home  it  once  had  been. 

Such  was  the  health  of  the  soldier  that  he  was 
not  discharged  from  the  Rock  Island  hospital  until 
some  three  months  after  the  surrender  of  the  Con 
federate  armies,  when  he  was  paroled  and  permitted 
to  return  to  his  home.  Upon  reaching  his  home  de 
pot,  in  the  first  days  of  September,  1865,  good-heart 
ed  Tom  Day  furnished  him  a  horse  to  go  out  to  his 
home.  We  will  not  attempt  to  depict  his  feelings  on 
seeing  the  devastation  that  was  spread  before  him 
upon  reaching  home.  He  sought  the  house  of  a 
neighbor,  where  he  was  told  in  sympathetic  words 
the  sad,  sad  story.  He  had  not  been  able  to  write 
himself  during  his  year  or  more  as  a  prisoner;  and 
confiding  it  to  others,  they  had  failed  either  willfully 
or  negligently  to  do  so.  He  listened  in  a  dazed  state 
of  mind  to  the  information  imparted  to  him  by  his 


254       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

friend,  but  spoke  not  a  word,  remaining  silent  dur 
ing  the  evening.  As  the  lengthening  shadows  of 
the  setting  sun  grew  longer,  he  arose,  saying  that  he 
would  go  down  home  again.  He  was  asked  to 
wait  till  morning  and  take  a  good  night's  rest,  to 
which  he  gave  no  heed,  hobbling  off  on  his 
crutches  in  that  direction.  He  did  not  return  that 
night,  and  the  next  morning  at  the  breakfast  table 
the  neighbor  announced  that  he  would  go  down  and 
see  if  he  could  hear  anything  of  his  friend.  On 
approaching  the  house,  he  found  the  door  slightly 
ajar.  Pushing  it  open,  to  his  horror  he  beheld  the 
soldier  stretched  upon  the  bare  floor — dead.  He, 
too,  had  died  of  a  broken  heart.  The  next  day  he 
was  buried  by  a  few  sorrowing  friends  by  the  side 
of  his  wife,  at  the  Old  Salem  Camp  Ground,  where 
his  rude  forefathers  sleep. 

The  wrecks  created  along  its  pathway  by  a  state 
of  war  are  indeterminable.  The  destruction  of 
property,  public  and  private,  is  its  natural  conse 
quence.  Nor  does  its  blighting  effect  end  upon  the 
battle  field,  but  drags  into  its  maelstrom  of  death 
the  innocent,  the  helpless,  and  the  unprotected. 
Truly  can  it  be  said  that  war  makes  countless  thou 
sands  mourn. 

These  two  young  men  were  a  type  of  the  sol 
diery  of  which  the  Confederate  armies  were  com 
posed.  They  had  no  particular  property  rights  to 
fight  for;  they  owned  no  slaves;  they  were  not  per- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       255 

sonally  interested  in  the  slavery  question.  The 
doctrine  of  State  rights  had  been  the  policy  of  the 
government  since  its  existence.  The  Constitution 
and  the  laws  made  thereunder  recognized  it,  and  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  numerous 
decisions  had  sustained  them.  These  were  to  be  set 
at  naught  by  force  of  arms,  their  country  invaded, 
and  their  people  to  be  subjugated.  To  prevent  this 
they  risked  their  lives  and  their  all.  Rebels  they 
were  in  the  sense  that  their  forefathers  had  been,  but 
patriots  in  the  cause  of  freedom  and  in  their  efforts 
to  preserve  the  inalienable  rights  of  the  citizen. 


APPENDIX. 
17 


APPENDIX. 


A. 

AN  extract  from  a  letter  of  Gen.  Marcus  J. 
Wright  to  Thomas  Nelson  Page,  author  of  "Robert 
E;  Lee  the  Southerner,"  dated  September  26,  1907, 
says: 

From  all  reliable  data  that  could  be  secured,  it  has  been 
estimated  by  the  best  authorities  that  the  strength  of  the 
Confederate  armies  was  about  600,000  men,  and  of  this  num 
ber  not  more  than  two-thirds  were  available  for  active  duty 
in  the  field.  The  necessity  of  guarding  a  long  line  of  exposed 
seacoast  and  of  maintaining  permanent  garrisons  at  different 
posts  on  inland  waters  and  at  numerous  other  points  deprived 
the  Confederate  army  in  the  field  of  an  accession  of  strength. 
The  large  preponderance  of  Federal  forces  was  manifest  in 
all  the  important  battles  and  campaigns  of  the  war.  The 
largest  force  ever  assembled  by  the  Confederates  was  at  the 
Seven  Days'  fight  around  Richmond. 

General  Lee's  report  showed  80,835  men  present  for  duty 
when  the  movement  against  General  McClellan  commenced, 
and  the  Federal  forces  numbered  115,240. 

At  Antietam  the  Federals  had  87,164,  and  the  Confederates 
had  35,255- 

At  Fredericksburg  the  Federals  had  110,000,  and  the  Con 
federates  had  78,110. 

At  Chancellorsville  the  Federals  had  131,661,  of  which 
number  only  90,000  were  engaged,  and  the  Confederates  had 

57,212. 

At  Gettysburg  the  Federals  had  95,000,  and  the  Confeder 
ates  had  44,000. 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       259 

At  the  Wilderness  the  Federals  had  141,160,  and  the  Con 
federates  had  63,981. 

In  the  six  battles  named  the  Confederates  were  victorious 
in  four  of  them,  while  the  Federals  were  victors  in  one,  and 
one  was  a  drawn  battle. 

From  the  latter  part  of  1862  until  the  close  of  the  war  in 
1865  there  was  a  constant  decrease  of  the  numerical  strength 
of  the  Confederate  army.  On  the  other  hand,  the  records 
show  that  during  that  time  the  Federal  army  was  strengthened 
to  the  extent  of  363,390  men. 

In  April,  1865,  the  aggregate  of  present  and  absent  showed 
the  strength  of  the  Confederate  army  to  be  about  275,000. 
Of  this  number,  65,387  were  in  Federal  military  prisons  and 
52,000  were  absent  by  reason  of  disability  and  other  causes. 
Deducting  the  total  of  these  two  numbers  (117,387)  from 
275,000,  we  have  157,613  as  showing  the  full  effective  strength 
of  the  Confederate  army  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

Gen.  Marcus  J.  Wright  has  been  for  many  years 
in  charge  of  the  Confederate  Archives  Department 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  including  the  muster  rolls  of 
the  Confederate  army,  and  is  the  best  authority  upon 
the  subject  he  writes  about. 

The  able  editor  of  the  New  Orleans  Picayune,  in 
a  recent  editorial  upon  the  strength  of  the  Confed 
erate  army,  says : 

In  the  War  between  the  States  the  official  rolls  of  the 
Northern  army  show  a  total  enlistment  of  2,850,000  men. 
Allowing  700,000  men  for  the  South— which  would  be  the 
extreme  limit  for  a  white  population  of  6,000,000,  of  which 
3,000,000  were  women  and  more  than  2,000,000  males  under 
age,  not  to  mention  the  200,000  Southern  men  who  went  into 

the  Union  army  and  the  men  past  military  age  and  disabled 

it  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  South  to  have  had  more 
than  700,000  on  its  rolls,  and  these  fought  four  to  one.    That 


260      Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 

these  smaller  numbers  could  inflict  such  heavy  loss  upon  the 
superior  numbers  of  their  antagonists  made  it  necessary, 
not  only  that  they  should  have  been  ably  led,  but  that  they 
should  have  fought  desperately  and  exhibited  extraordinary 
powers  of  endurance,  all  of  which  they  did  up  to  the  highest 
mark.  By  the  records  of  modern  warfare  their  performances 
have  never  been  equaled,  much  less  surpassed. 


B. 

"No  step  could  have  given  more  aid  and  comfort 
to  the  North  or  have  been  more  disastrous  to  the 
South  than  the  removal  of  General  Johnston. 
Abroad  it  satisfied  the  anxious  nations  of  Europe 
that  the  South  was  at  her  last  gasp  and  established 
their  hitherto  vacillating  policy  in  favor  of  the 
Union  cause,  and  the  Southern  cause  thereafter 
steadily  declined  to  its  end.  The  destruction  of 
Hood's  army  at  Nashville  removed  the  only  force 
capable  of  blocking  the  way  of  Sherman  across  the 
South  and  left  him  free  to  march  to  the  sea  and, 
having  got  in  touch  with  the  fleet  there,  continue 
through  the  Carolinas,  marking  his  way  with  a 
track  of  devastation  which  has  been  likened  to  that 
made  when  Saxe  carried  fire  and  sword  through  the 
Palatinate."  (See  pages  63,  64  of  "Robert  E.  Lee 
the  Southerner,"  by  Thomas  Nelson  Page.) 

The  North  was  enabled  to  recruit  her  armies  by 
drafting  all  the  men  she  needed,  and  her  command 
of  the  sea  gave  her  Europe  as  a  recruiting  ground. 
On  October  17,  1863,  the  President  of  the  United 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       261 

States  ordered  a  draft  for  300,000  men.  On  Feb 
ruary  i,  1864,  he  called  for  500,000;  and  on  March 
14,  1864,  he  issued  an  additional  call  for  200,000 
more  "to  provide  an  additional  reserve  for  all  con 
tingencies."  The  South  was  almost  spent.  Her 
spirit  was  unquenched  and  was,  indeed,  unquench 
able  ;  but  her  resources,  both  of  treasury  and  of  men, 
were  exhausted.  Her  levies  for  reserves  of  all  men 
between  fifteen  and  sixty  drew  from  President  Davis 
the  lament  that  she  was  grinding  the  seed  corn  of 
the  Confederacy. 

C. 

Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  in  his  report  of  May  4, 
1864,  says: 

The  Confederate  army  at  my  front  at  Dalton,  Ga.,  com 
prised,  according  to  the  best  authority,  about  45,000  men, 
commanded  by  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  who  was  equal  in  all  the 
elements  of  generalship  to  Lee  and  who  was  under  instruction 
from  the  war  power  at  Richmond  to  assume  the  offensive 
northward  as  far  as  Nashville.  But  he  soon  discovered  that 
he  would  have  to  conduct  a  defensive  campaign.  Coincident 
with  the  movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  as  announced 
by  telegraph,  I  advanced  from  our  base  at  Chattanooga  with 
the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  13,550  men ;  the  Army  of  the  Cumber 
land,  60,773  men;  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  24,405  men 
(grand  total,  98,707  men)  ;  and  254  guns. 


INDEX. 


Adams,  117. 
Aiken,  J.  A.,  164. 
Alexander,  D.  W.,  9,  156. 
Alexander,  Gid,  239. 
Alexander,  William,  239. 
Allen,  Dr.  Tom,  9,  239. 
Allen,  T.,  159- 
Allen,  T.  J.,  165. 
Allen,  W,  159. 
Allison,  Henry,  156. 
Anderson,  A.  A.,  157. 
Anderson,  DeWitt,  10,  166. 
Anderson,  Frank,  166,  243. 
Anderson,  Lieut.    Col.   P.   F., 

9,  54,  182. 

Arnold,  J.  A.,  10,  159,  240. 
Arnold,  James,  156. 
Armstrong,  J.,  160. 
Atkins,  Fentress,  165. 
Austin,  Levi,  164. 
Avants,  H.,  157. 
Avants,  N.,  157. 

Baily,  Jonathan,  164. 

Baker,  J.  N.,  158. 

Ballew,  Zeb,  242. 

Barbee,    Lieutenant,    10,    159, 

239,  240. 

Barnes,  Joe,  165. 
Barton,  Jack,  166. 
Beard,  Lieut.  Charles,  9. 
Beauregard,  General,  172. 
Bell,  J.  C,  156. 
Bell,  John,   158. 


Bell,  P.,  164. 
Bell,  W.,  166,  240. 
Bennett,  James,  163. 
Bennett,  Moses,  163. 
Bennett,  S.  H.,  242. 
Blackburn,  Captain,  46. 
Bledsoe,  A.,  164. 
Bledsoe,  Capt.  Robert,  10,  164. 
Bledsoe,   Maj.    Scott,   9,    125, 

184. 

Bone,  Capt.  William,  9. 
Bone,  Lieut.  Bob,  10,  159,  240. 
Bowles,  Jeff,  243. 
Bowman,  John,  165. 
Bowman,    Lieut.    Foster,    10, 

165. 

Bragg,  General,  9,  14,  57. 
Brandon,  J.  A.,  162. 
Breckenridge,      General,     23, 

140. 

Brewer,  C.,  241. 
Britton,  Capt.  James,  10,  246. 
Brown,  Joel,  243. 
Brown,  R.,  165. 
Burford,  Ben,  158. 
Burgess,  Lieutenant,  10,  161. 
Burke,  James,  161. 
Bttshong,  D.,  157. 
Bynum,  E.,  241. 
Bynum,  W.  M.,  162. 

Caline,  William,  157. 
Carder,  Jack,  161. 
Carmack,  D.  C,  157- 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       263 


Carmack,  Lieutenant,  10. 
Carmack,  Lieut.  Gid,  157,  239. 
Carter,  General,  117. 
Cato,  Joe,  158. 
Chapman,  Bennett,  9. 
Cheatham,  General,  23. 
Chenyworth,  Colonel,  44. 
Christian,  Major,  46. 
Claiborne,  General,  23,  116. 
Coleman,  J.  C,  162. 
Cook,  Colonel,  46. 
Cook,  Col.  Ed,  65. 
Cooper,  I.,  162. 
Corbett,  W.,  10. 
Corder,  Bob,  9,  239. 
Cox,  James,  157. 
Crockett,  Frank,  156. 
Crouch,  Zack  T.,  243. 
Crozier,  Lieut  E.,  125,  245. 
Cunningham,  Frank,  10. 
Curren,  George,  158. 
Curren,  W.  J.,  156. 

Dark,  James,  156. 
Davis,  James,  156. 
Davis,  J.  H.,  241. 
Davis,  John,  242. 
Davis,  President,  66,  138. 
Davis,  Robert,  131. 
Davis,  Robert  A.,  165. 
Davis,  Scott,  239. 
Davis,  W.  H.,  241. 
Deadman,  158. 
Deason,  William,  165. 
Delaney,   Dr.  W.   T.,   9,    I57> 

239- 

Delaney,  Henry,  157,  239. 
Dibrell,  General,  39,  71,  108. 


Dillard,  J.,  161. 
Dillard,  John,  158. 
Dillon,  S.,  159. 
Doak,  Tom,  160. 
Donnell,  R.  O.,  158. 
Doughtry,  James,  162. 
Douglass,  C.  M.,  164. 
Douglass,  John,  65. 
Dunn,  J.  F.,  162. 
Durham,  A.  D.,  164. 

Edwards,  Joe,  158. 
Edwards,  William,  239. 
Elliott,  Lieutenant,  10. 
Evans,  Capt.  Mark,  234. 
Evans,  Ike,  240. 
Ewing,  Col.  Andrew,  59. 

Fagan,  Lon,  156. 
Fagan,  Tom,  156. 
Farnsworth,  George,  166. 
Fathera,  Lieutenant,   10,    160, 

240. 

Fields,  W.,  10. 
Finney,  Sergeant,  9. 
Flippin,  Don,  240. 
Flippin,  H.  L.,  158. 
Flippin,  S.,  240. 
Floridy,  T.,  159. 
Ford,  Isaac,  243. 
Forrest,  General,  n,  16. 
Fowler,    Sergt.    W.    R.,    162, 

241. 

Gaither,  L.  L.,  241. 
Gaither,  T.  A.,  241. 
Gaither,  W.  P.,  162,  241. 
Gann,  Bob,  9. 
Gann,  H.,  158. 


264       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 


Gann,  John,  159. 
Gant,  William,  163. 
Gatewood,  Henry,  243. 
Gentry,  James,  156. 
Gillihan,  E.,  158. 
Glover,  H.  C. 
Glover,  S.,  10,  163. 
Goad,  William,  164. 
Godges,  Rufus,  164. 
Godsey,  T.,  163. 
Godsey,  W.  J.,  157. 
Goodrich,  Bryant,  243. 
Gordon,  John,  162. 
Grady,  Henry,  no. 
Granbery,  General,  117. 
Gray,  W.  W.,  162. 
Green,  Allen,  163. 
Green,  James,  158. 
Green,  Lieutenant,  10. 
Grissim,  Bob,  240.  ' 
Grissim,  M.   (Q.  M.),  9,  I55» 

158. 
Guild,  G.  B.,  54,  76,  125,  239. 

Hall,  John,  243. 

Hampton,  General,  112. 

Hancock,  Ed,  165. 

Hardee,  General,  65,  127,  133. 

Hare,  Joe,  160. 

Hare,  Tim,  156. 

Hargrove,  N.,  156. 

Harris,  John,  162. 

Harrison,  Colonel,  125. 

Harrison,  Porter  B.,  165,  243. 

Harron,  H.  H.,  163. 

Hawkins,  E.  J.,  160. 

Hayes,*  J.,  241. 

Hearn,  James,  165. 


Hearn,  R.,  165. 

Hendrix,  W.  W.,  9. 

Henlen,  J.  A.,  157. 

Henry,  Lieutenant,  10. 

Herndon,  Liter,  127. 

Hicks,  E.  and  W. 

Hildreth,  Lieutenant,  10,  243. 

Hill,  L.,  165. 

Hill,  Mike,  165. 

Hilton,  J.  B.,  164. 

Hogan,  Lieutenant,  10,  158. 

Hood,    General,    62,    68,    116, 

119,  177- 

Hopkins,  John,  156. 
Horton,  Jesse,  165. 
Hughes,  James,  162. 
Hull,  157. 

Hume,  General,  124. 
Hutton,  Polk,  156. 

Ingles,  Capt.  C  H.,  9. 
Ingles,  W.  C.,  239. 
Ivey,  J.  C,  164,  242. 
Ivie,  H.  J.,  162. 
Ivie,  N.  I.,  241. 

Jackson,  Dan,  163. 
James,  J.  E.,  162. 
Jarman,  H.,  159. 
Jarmin,  Captain,  46. 
Jarnigan,  L.  W.,  241. 
Jobe,  Ben,  239. 
Johnson,  Ab. 
Johnson,  T.,  159. 
Johnston,  Gen.  A.  S.,  172. 
Johnston,  Gen.  Joseph  E.,  59> 

65,  126,  148,  172,  173- 
Jones,  D.  C,  162. 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       265 


Jones,  H.  N.,  241. 
Jones,  J.  E.,  162. 
Jowett,  Cullom,  164. 
Joyner,  Major,  135. 

Kennedy,  Al,  240. 
Kennedy,  A.  W.,  160. 
King,  M.  T.,  157. 
Kirk,  B.,  161. 
Kirkpatrick,  Captain,  47. 
Knox,  Bob,  241. 
Knox,  William,  159. 

Lee,  General,  172. 

Lester,  Capt.  J.  R.,  10,  13,  161. 

Lester,  T.,  157. 

Lester,  William,  161. 

Light,  Lieut.  William,  10,  164. 

Lindamond,  James,  157. 

Longstreet,  General,  33. 

Love,  James,  241. 

Limn,  W.  F.,  156. 

Luttrell,  J,  157. 

Lyons,  P.  A.,  156. 

Magill,  Walter,  163. 
Mallard,  J.  R.,  156. 
Marlin,  Jesse,  156. 
Martin,  Gid,  162. 
Martin,  R.,  163. 
Massengale,  John. 
Massengale,  Lieut.  Joe,  9,  143, 

157- 

Massengale,   William,   163. 
Mattern,  H.,  157. 
McCall,  John,  163. 
McClelland,  Abe,  157,  239. 
McClelland,  Edward,  240. 
McDonough,  James,  163. 


McDowell,  Jack,  165. 
McGee,  G.  M.,  158. 
McGill,  S.  M.,  241. 
McKnight,  Lieut.  F.  A.,   162, 

241. 

McKnight,  S.  M.,  241. 
McLean,   Lieut.   Rice,  9,   156, 

244. 

McLean,  R.  O.,  9,  156,  239. 
McMillin,  Capt.,  24. 
McNairy,  Col.  Frank,  16. 
McNeilly,  Rev.  J.  H.,  191. 
Miller,  H.,  162,  241. 
Miller,  Joe,  243. 
Milton,  C,  160. 
Minnis,  Adjt.  J.  A.,  9,  18. 
Minton,  J.,  158. 
Mitchell,  J.,  160. 
Mitchell,  N.,  160. 
Mitchell,  N.  A.,  240. 
Mitchell,  O.  K.,  163. 
Moate,  O.  I.,  243. 
Modly,  A.,  158. 
Mont,  T.,  159. 
Moore,  C.  W.,  241. 
Moore,  G.  C.,  10,  158. 
Morrell,  William,  157. 
Morris,  J.  M.,  164. 
Moses,  Capt.  Frank,  244. 
Moss,  Pat,  240. 
Mullinax,  F.,  159. 
Murrey,  E.  H.,  241. 
Murrell,  J.  T.,  157. 
Murry,  D.  D.,  241. 

Nance,  J.  B.,  9,  129. 
Neal,  William,  166. 
Nealy,  J.,  160. 


266       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 


Neely,  E.,  240. 

Neely,  I.  E.,  241. 

Neely,  T.,  160. 

Neil,  W.  J.,  156. 

Nelson,  Henry,  166. 

Nevels,  Ben,  156. 

Newlan,  Anderson. 

Newsom,  Joe,  165. 

Nichols,  Capt.  J.  W.,  10,  132, 

162,  241,  248. 
Nugent,  John,  241. 

O'Dell,  P.,  157- 
Odum,  D.,   159. 
Oglesby,  Nick,  156. 
Orr,  Lieut.  J.  N.,  9. 
Owens,  Elias,  164. 

Padgett,  James,  164. 
Pain,  G.  V.  and  William. 
Parton,  Capt.  J.  J.,  10. 
Patrick,  A.  R.,  162. 
Patrick,  Robert,  241. 
Paty,  M.,  158. 
Pemberton,  M.,  159. 
Phelps,  Billy,  242. 
Phelps,  R.,  242. 
Phillips,  J.  M.,  10,  159. 
Phillips,  W.  H.,  73,  161. 
Pickett,  J.  M.,  163. 
Pickett,  John,  163. 
Polk,  Lieutenant  General,  64. 
Poor,  Pleasant,  165. 
Porterfield,  D.,  160. 
Powell,  N.,  159. 


Preston,  B.  P.,  160. 

Preston,  Lieut.  H.  L.,  10,  143, 

1 60,  240. 
Price,  John  T.,  9. 

Raine,  John,  166. 
Rains,  Gen.  Jim,  13. 
Ransom,  C,  156. 
Reed,  James,  156. 
Reid,  B.,  160. 
Richerson,  O.,  159. 
Ridley,    Granville.* 
Roberts,  C.  M.,  162. 
Roberts,  L.  M.,  162,  241. 
Robinson,  Arch,  162. 
Robinson,  A.  W.,  162. 
Robinson,  Jesse,  162. 
Robinson,  M.,  159. 
Roder,  A.  L.,  157. 
Roland,  A.,  158. 
Rushing,  Joe  A.,  162. 
Rushing,  J.  R.,  160. 
Rushing,  Sergt.  Maj.  W.  A., 

9,  113,  239. 
Russell,  Lieut.  H.,  10. 
Ryburn,  J.  S.,  157. 

Sagely,  Lieut.  J.  A.,  10,  162. 
Sams,  William,  157. 
Sandifer,  William,  156. 
Scoggins,  Lieut.  Sam,  TO,  134, 

240. 
Scruggs,  Lieut.  R.  L.,  10,  158, 

240. 
Shell,  William,  163. 


*Granville  Ridley  enlisted  in  the  Regiment  \vhon  sixteen  years  of  age,  while 
Wheeler  was  on  his  last  raid  into  Tennessee  in  1864,  and  served  faithfully  till 
the  surrender. 


Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment.       267 


Shumate,  R.,  163. 
Shutt,  Hal,  243. 
Sienknecht,  Dr.  Henry,  243. 
Simpson,  J.  N.,  243. 
Singleton,  James,  165. 
Slaughter,  George,  156. 
Smith,  Col.  Baxter,  9,  17,  18, 

125,  130,  143,  186,  239,  273. 
Smith,  Jack,  163. 
Smith,  John,  165. 
Smith,  William,  164. 
Snodgrass,  J.  Y.,  157. 
Spain,  W.  M.,  162. 
Spencer,  Z.,  156. 
Stanton,  Col.  S.  S.,  61. 
Starnes,  Gen.  James,  20. 
Stearns,  Colonel,  n. 
Stewart,  Gen.  A.  P.,  62. 
Stewart,  J.  A.,  9,  17,  158. 
Stone,  William,  163. 
Storey,  Lieut.  J.  W.,  10,  165, 

243- 

Strahl,  General,   117. 
Sullivan,  T.,  158. 
Sullivan,  W.  S.,  10. 
Sutton,  H.,  164. 

Tacket,  Alex,  164. 
Taylor,  W.  H.,  241. 
Thomas,  James,  243. 
Thompson,  D.,  164. 
Thompson,  James,  156. 
Thompson,  Z.,  161,  241. 
Tippett,  Jim,  239. 
Tittle,  T.  J.,  160. 
Todd,  Alfred,  162. 
Todd,  Calep,  162. 
Todd,  Walker,  162. 


Tolbert,  D.  W,  162. 
Tomlinson,  E.,  158. 
Trousdale,  W.,  158. 
Turner,  J.  M.,  156. 

Vance,  T.,  160. 
Van  Trease,  A.,  165. 
Vinson,  T.,  240. 

Walker,  Colonel,  65. 
Walkup,  L,  160. 
Wallace,  W.,  243. 
Waller,  Sam,  156. 
Warner,  Polk,  239. 
Warren,  W.  T.,  242. 
Warren;  W.  W.,  163. 
Watkins,  Thomas,  164. 
Wratts,  David,  156. 
Weakley,  Wat,  247. 
Weaver,  C,  159. 
Webber,  C.  M.,  162. 
Wharton,  General,  n,  27,  46. 
Wharton,  J.  H.,  241. 
Wharton,  Tobe,  166. 
Wheeler,  General,  n,  16,  69, 

108,  150,  179. 
White,  Captain,  17. 
White,  Dr.  R.  L.  C.,  247. 
White,  M.  M.,  163. 
Whitecotten,  L,  163. 
Wilbern,  J.,  239. 
Williams,  A.,  164. 
Williams,  General,  97,  102. 
Williams,  James,  163. 
Williamson,  Lieutenant,  241. 
Williamson,  Lieut.  James,  10. 
Wilson,  Billy,  156. 


268       Fourth  Tennessee  Cavalry  Regiment. 


Winder,  J.  B.,  164. 
Witherspoon,  D.  C,  162. 
Witherspoon,  Sam,  162. 
Wood,  William,  157,  240. 
Woods,  C.  C,  157. 
Wyly,  Capt.  H.  A.,  10,  44,  161. 
Wynn,  W.  R.,  156,  239. 


Yarbrough,  Joe,  156,  239. 
Young,  Dock,  158. 
Young,  Gen.  Bennett  H.,  204. 
Youree,  A.  H.,  241. 
Youree,  Frank,  162. 
Youree,  Lieut.  Dave,  10,  162. 
Youree,  W.  H.,  162. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subjettjttjimnje^liate  recall. 


|J.  ft. 


LIBRARY  USE 


OPT   !  H  1<lfi? 


CrRCULATION 


LD  21A-50m-4,'GO 
(A9562slO)476B 


YB  37864 


M229939 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


